REESE    LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY   OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Received.. 
Accessions  No.  <^<?  //^     Shelf  No. 


THE 


MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL, 


COMPRISING  A  FULL  STATEMENT  OF 


ITS  AIMS,  METHODS.  AND   RESULTS, 


WITH  FIGURED  DRAWINGS  OF 


SHOP  EXERCISES  IN  WOODS  AND  METALS. 


BY 


C.  M.  WOODWARD,  A.B.  (HARVARD),  PH.D.  (W.  U.), 

ASSOCIATE    AMERICAN    SOCIETY    CIVIL    ENGINEERS,    MEMBER    AMERICAN    SOCIETY 

MECHANICAL   ENGINEERS,    THAYER    PROFESSOR   OF   MATHEMATICS  AND 

APPLIED    MECHANICS,   DEAN    OF    THE    POLYTECHNIC    SCHOOL, 

AND   DIRECTOR   OF  THE   MANUAL  TRAINING   SCHOOL, 

OF   WASHINGTON.  UNIVERSITY,   ST.   LOUIS,   MO. 


"  Hail  to  the  skillful,  cunning  hand ! 

Hail  to  the  cultured  mind ! 
Contending  for  the  world's  command, 
Here  let  them  be  combined." 


BOSTON  : 

D.    C.    HEATH    &    CO.,    PUBLISHERS. 
1887. 


COPYRIGHT,  1887, 
BY  C.  M.  WOODWARD. 


RAND   AVERY   COMPANY, 

ELECTROTYPERS   AND   PRINTERS, 

BOSTON,  MASS. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  book  really  consists  of  four  Parts  ;  namely :  — 

I.  The  Historical  Introduction  and  Chap.  XIV. 

II.  The  exposition  of  the  methods  and  scope  of  the  school,  with 
full  details  as  regards  the  manual  elements,  in  Chaps.  II.,  III.,  IV., 
and  XV. 

III.  The  results  of  manual  training,  as  shown  by  the  records  and 
testimony  of  graduates  and  others,  in  Chaps.  V.  and  VI. 

IV.  Discussions  of  the  educational,  social,  and  economic  bearings 
of  manual  training  from  various  standpoints  and  at  various  times, 
in  Chaps.  VII.  to  XIII. 

It  is  possible  that  this  classification  may  be  of  value  to  those  who 
come  for  suggestions  in  specific  directions.  To  others  the  arrange- 
ment may  appear  illogical,  and  the  repetitions  unnecessary. 

lu  defence -of  the  arrangement v I  must  say  that  I  have  had  in 
miud  two  things  :  first  and  foremost,  the  probable  state  of  mind  of 
the  reader  who  comes  to  this  book  to  learn  of  a  matter  of  which  he 
has  heard  much,  but  knows  little.  He  wants  facts,  arguments,  and 
speculations,  according  to  the  stage  of  his  progress  in  finding  out 
what  manual  training  really  is,  and  what  it  aims  at.  And  secondly, 
the  desirability  of  showing  clearly  the  growth  and  progress  of  ideas 
in  the  development  of  the  school. 

As  to  the  occasional  repetitions  of  statements  and  arguments,  I 
will  say  that  no  one  is  likely  to  read  the  book  through  consecutively. 
Those  who  do  me  the  honor  to  read  it  at  all  will  read  by  topics  and 
separate  chapters,  and  being  thus  read  I  doubt  if  the  repetitions  will 
be  found  objectionable.  Of  necessity,  much  common  material  ap- 
pears in  every  address.  The  earlier  addresses  were  quite  general 
in  their  treatment,  and  I  have  preferred  to  let  them  stand  fairly 
complete. 

I  trust  no  apology  will  be  necessary  for  inserting  addresses  which, 
in  one  form  or  another,  have  alreacty  appeared  in  print.  The  dis- 
cussions they  contain  relate  to  matters  which  are  still  of  first 
importance  and  general  interest,  and  I  have  felt  that  I  could  not 


vi  PREFACE. 

greatly  improve  upon  the  form  in  which  they  were  originally  pre- 
sented. They  contain  my  observations  and  reflections  while  actually 
engaged  in  daily  supervision  of  a  manual  training  school.  They  are 
therefore  personal  in  character  and  positive  in  tone.  I  insert  them 
because  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  may  still  be  of  service 
to  those  whose  opportunities  for  testing  theories  have  been  less  for- 
tunate. 

The  critical  reader  may  find  me  inconsistent  in  addresses  several 
years  apart.  If  so,  I  beg  him  to  remember  that  I  have  not  stood 
still  the  past  fifteen  years  during  which  I  have  been  in  contact 
with  advanced  ideas  on  education  and  experimenting  with  manual 
methods. 

I  am  well  aware  that  many  will  be  disappointed  that  I  do  not  enter 
in  detail  into  the  theory  and  practice  of  manual  training  in  the 
primary  and  grammar  schools.  To  such  I  give  the  following  reasons 
for  having  limited  myself  to  the  training  of  pupils  of  from  fourteen 
to  eighteen  or  more  years  :  — 

1.  To  have  covered  the  whole  field,  even  had  I  been  able  to  do  it, 
would  have  obliged  me  to  make  a  book  much  too  large.     Very  few 
persons  would  have  been  equally  interested  in  the  higher  and  the  lower 
grades,  and  a  separation  of  the  parts  would  have  been  necessary. 

2.  The  manual  training  of  the  lower  grades  has  already  been  quite 
fully  treated  by  others,  while  the  ground  I  go  over  has  scarcely  been 
touched   by  a  practical  teacher.     It   must  suffice  if   I  mention  the 
work   of  Prof.  Strait,  the    reports  of  Dr.  Felix  Adler,  the   recent 
publications   of   Prang  &  Co.,  and    more   recently,  the   manual   of 
Superintendent  S.  G.  Love. 

3.  While  I  have   very  positive   ideas   about   the    methods  which 
should  be  employed  to  train  the  pupils  of  the  lower  grades,  I  have 
had  no  experience  in  applying  them.     I  therefore  consider  myself 
incompetent  to  speak  with  authority  in  regard  to  the  details  of  the 
instruction.     We  have  already  had  too  many  mere  theorizers. 

I  bow  reverently  before  those  who  not  only  have  enlightened  ideas, 
but  who  have  thoughtfully,  intelligently,  and  repeatedly  put  them  to 
the  test  of  actual  use.  For  such  I  ask  respectful  consideration  at 
the  hands  of  parents  and  teachers ;  for  myself  and  my  work  in  my 
own  field,  I  ask  neither  more  nor  less. 

C.    M.    WOODWARD. 
WASHINGTON  UNIVERSITY,  ST.  Louis, 
Sept.  30,  1887. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

(\L/  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION 1-15 

II.    THE  FIRST  YEAR  OF  THE  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL   .          16-72 

III.     THE  SECOND  YEAR  OF  THE  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL    .    73-125 

IY.    THE  THIRD  YEAR  OF  THE  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL  .       126-149 

V.    THE  RECORDS  AND  TESTIMONY  OF  GRADUATES    .        .        .  150-167 

VI.    WHAT  OTHERS  WHO  HAVE  SEEN  IT  SAY  OF  THE  RESULTS 

OF  MANUAL  TRAINING 168-180 

VII.    THE   COMPLEMENTARY   NATURE   OF   MANUAL    TRAINING. 

(Saratov a  Address  of  1882) 181-201 

VIII.    THE   FRUITS  OF  MANUAL   TRAINING.     (Saratoga  Address 

of  1883) 202-213 

IX.    MANUAL  TRAINING  A  FEATURE  IN  GENERAL  EDUCATION. 

(Philadelphia  Address  of  1885) 214-239 

X.    THE  ORIGIN,  AIMS,  METHODS,  AND  DIGNITY  OF  POLYTECH- 
NIC TRAINING.     (St.  Louis  Address  of  1873) .        .        .        .240-260 
XL    MANUAL  EDUCATION.     (St.  Louis  Address  of  1878)     .        .       261-288 
XII.    EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PROSPECTUS  OF  1879    ....  289-296 

XIII.  THE  PROVINCE  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.      (Chicago  Address 

of  1887) 297-326 

XIV.  EUROPEAN  SCHOOLS 327-334 

XV.    PLANS,  SHOP  DISCIPLINE,  TEACHERS,  REPORTS,  ETC.  .        .  335-350 

APPENDICES. 

I.    ST.  Louis  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL  COURSE  OF  STUDY  .         351 
II.    TOLEDO  MANUAL   TRAINING  SCHOOL   COURSE   OF  STUDY 

FOR  GIRLS 352-353 

III.  DAILY  PROGRAM    OF   THE  TOLEDO  HIGH  AND   MANUAL 

TRAINING  SCHOOL 354 

IV.  MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL.    (Address  of  Gen. 

Francis  A.  Walker  at  Chicago,  1887) 355-357 

V.    MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  SCHOOL  EDUCATION.    (By  Sir  Philip 

Magnus)     .  358-360 

vii 


THE   MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL. 


CHAPTER   I. 

HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 
THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  MANUAL  ELEMENT  IN  EDUCATION. 

IN  speaking  of  the  "Aims,  Methods,  and  Results  of  Manual 
Training,"  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  refer  freely  to  the  Manual 
Training  School  -  of  Washington  University  of  St.  Louis.  I 
do  not  assume  that  it  is  perfect,  but  it  appears  to  me  that 
its  methods  are  more  matured,  its  theories  more  thoroughly 
reduced  to  practice,  and  its  appliances  more  complete  than  in 
any  other  school  I  know.  No  one  knows  better  than  I  our 
failings,  nor  does  any  one  feel  more  strongly  the  necessity  for 
continued  improvement  in  the  working  details  of  our  school. 
Nevertheless,  the  school  comes  nearer  to  my  ideal  than  any 
other  that  I  know. 

I  shall  therefore  give  our  methods  and  results  as  those  most 
likely  to  be  of  use  to  others,  tho  1  shall  not  fail  to  draw  from 
other  sources  whatever  shall  appear  to  add  to  the  value  and 
completeness  of  my  exposition. 

For  the  sake  of  giving  honor  where  honor  is  clearly  due,  the 
following  brief  sketch  of  the  origin  and  growth  of  the  Manual 
Element  in  Education  is  given. 

In  1865  John  Boynton  of  Temple  ton,  Mass.,  gave  1100,000 
for  the  endowment  and  perpetual  support  of  a  Free  Institute 
for  the  Youth  of  Worcester  County,  Mass.  He  thus  explained 

i 


2  THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  MANUAL   ELEMENT.       [Chap,  L 

his  objects :  "  The  aim  of  this  school  shall  ever  be  the  instruc- 
tion of  youth  in  those  branches  of  education  not  usually 
taught  in  the  public  schools,  which  are  essential  and  best 
adapted  to  train  the  young  for  practical  life ; "  especially  such 
as  were  intending  to  be  mechanics,  or  manufacturers,  or  farmers. 

In  furtherance  of  this  object,  ten  months  later,  in  1866, 
Ichabod  Washburn  of  Worcester  gave  $25,000,  and  later 
$50,000  more  to  erect,  equip,  and  endow  a  machine-shop  which 
should  accommodate  twenty  apprentices  and  a  suitable  number 
of  skilled  workmen  to  instruct  them  and  to  carry  on  the  shop 
as  a  commercial  establishment. 

The  apprentices  were  to  be  taught  the  use  of  tools  in  work- 
ing wood  and  metals,  and  to  be  otherwise  instructed,  much  as 
was  customary  fifty  years  ago  for  boys  learning  a  trade. 

The  Worcester  Free  Institute  was  opened  for  students  in 
November,  1868,  as  a  technical  school  of  about  college  grade ; 
and  the  use  of  the  shops  and  shop  instruction  was  limited  to 
those  students  in  the  course  of  mechanical  engineering.  Thus 
did  the  Worcester  School  under  the  leadership  of  Prest.  C.  O. 
Thompson  incorporate  tool-instruction  and  shop-practice  into 
the  training  of  mechanical  engineers.  Its  pupils  were  all  over 
sixteen  years  of  age  and  its  methods  of  tool-instruction  were 
those  of  ordinary  commercial  shops.  It  was  in  fact  the  com- 
bination of  the  ordinary  European  engineering  school  with 
an  ordinary  machine-shop. 

In  the  same  year,  1868,  Victor  Delia- Vos  introduced  into 
the  Imperial  Technical  (engineering)  School  at  Moscow  the 
Russian  method  of  class-instruction  in  the  use  of  tools.  Here 
the  students  were  eighteen  years  old  on  admission,  and  all 
were  to  become  government  engineers.  The  great  value  of 
the  work  of  Delia- Vos  lay  in  the  discovery  of  the  true  method 
of  tool-instruction,  for  without  his  discovery  the  later  steps 
would  have  been  impossible. 

In  1870,  under  the  direction  of  Prof.  Robinson  and  Prest. 
J.  M.  Gregory  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  a  wood-working  shop 
was  added  to  the  appliances  for  the  course  in  architecture,  and 
an  iron-working  shop  to  the  course  in  mechanical  engineering 
in  that  institution.  In  1871,  the  Stevens  Institute  of  Hoboken, 


Chap  I]       SHOPWOEK  IN    WASHINGTON    UNIVERSITY.  3 

N.J.,  munificently  endowed  by  Edwin  A.Stevens,  as  a  school 
of  mechanical  engineering,  fitted  up  a  series  of  shops  for  the 
use  of  its  students. 

The  next  step  forward  was  taken  by  Washington  University 
in  St.  Louis  in  providing  for  all  its  engineering  students 
systematic  instruction  in  both  wood  and  metals.  In  1872,  a 
large  shop  in  the  Polytechnic  School  was  equipped  with  work- 
benches, two  lathes,  a  forge,  a  gear-cutter  and  full  sets  of 
carpenters',  machinists',  and  forging  tools.  The  first  work 
undertaken,  was  the  construction  of  models  for  the  illustration 
of  mechanical  principles.  The  inability  of  the  students  to  use 
the  tools  with  any  facility  soon  led  to  the  introduction  of 
exercises  for  the  sole  purpose  of  tool-instruction.  Thus  un- 
consciously we  were  following  in  the  steps  of  Delia- Vos.  This 
work  was  so  far  systematized  as  to  be  reported  as  follows  in  the 
University  Catalogue  of  1875  :  — 

"  During  the  past  year  the  students  of  each  class  [the  four  polytechnic 
classes  being  required  to  attend  without  regard  to  their  course  of  study, 
while  the  classical  students  were  at  liberty  to  attend]  have  worked  syste- 
matically in  the  shop  under  the  direction  of  the  professors,  assisted  by  a 
skillful  carpenter  and  a  pattern-maker.  The  general  method  of  conducting 
this  work  is  as  follows :  A  sketch  of  the  piece  or  task  to  be  constructed  is 
given  a  class  with  all  needed  dimensions.  Each  student  then  makes  a  care- 
ful drawing  of  it  to  some  convenient  scale,  with  details  and  exact  measure- 
ments. 

"  The  class  then  goes  to  the  shop,  is  furnished  with  the  requisite  materials 
and  tools,  and  each  member  is  shown  by  an  expert  how  to  execute  the  work. 
Every  piece  must  be  reasonably  perfect  or  it  is  rejected  and  a  new  one  is 
required.  Although  the  students  work  in  the  shop  no  more  than  four 
hours  per  week,  the  experience  is  valuable.  It  is  not  supposed  of  course 
that  skilled  work  can  be  produced  by  this  method,  but  it  is  certain  that  such 
training  will  make  better  judges  of  workmanship." 

Thus  far  had  we  progressed  when  the  Philadelphia  Exposi- 
tion of  1876  was  opened. 

None  of  us  knew  any  thing  of  the  Moscow  school,  or  of  the 
one  in  Bohemia  in  which  the  Russian  method  had  been  adopted 
in  1874.  The  Russian  exhibit  at  Philadelphia  was  less  of  a 
surprise  to  me  than  to  many.  It  showed  with  remarkable 
fullness  and  logical  arrangement  the  true  educational  method 


4  THE   GROWTH  OF  THE  MANUAL   ELEMENT.      [Chap.  I. 

of  tool-instruction.  It  presented,  clear-cut  and  definite,  what 
before  had  been  ill  defined  or  unthought  of.  Before  referring 
to  the  great  work  of  Prof.  Runkle  in  presenting  the  Russian 
method  to  the  American  people,  I  will  give  the  story  of  our 
first  series  of  workshops  in  the  old  "  Philibert  Mansion  "  on  the 
ground  where  the  University  gymnasium  now  stands. 

In  the  summer  of  1877,  having  outgrown  our  single  shop,  we 
transformed  an  old  'dwelling-house  into  shops,  using  the  cham- 
bers for  a  carpenter-shop,  the  parlors  for  a  machine-shop,  and 
the  basement  for  a  forging-shop. 

The  Freshmen  had  benchwork  in  wood,  the  Sophomores 
wood-turning,  the  Juniors  metal  turning  and  fitting,  and  the 
Seniors  forging.  At  that  time,  I  wrote  as  follows  in  reference 
to  Mr.  Gottlieb  Conzelman  who  had  given  the  money  for  fitting 
up  those  shops  :  — 

"  I  feel  so  sure  that  from  this  small  beginning  important  consequences 
are  to  follow,  that  I  almost  envy  Mr.  Conzelman  the  satisfaction  he  will 
certainly  feel  in  having  contributed  to  its  foundation." 

For  three  years,  with  no  essential  change  of  plan,  the  shops 
were  used.  The  instruction  was  very  general,  and  our  success 
with  the  polytechnic  students  and  a  class  of  thirty  boys  from 
Smith  Academy  of  preparatory  grade  pointed  out  the  way  for 
the  MANUAL  TKAINING  SCHOOL,  whose  building  was  erected 
in  1879,  and  which  was  opened  in  September,  1880. 

In  his  report  of  1876,  Prest.  J.  D.  Runkle,  of  the  Mass. 
Institute  of  Technology,  gave  a  full  exposition  of  the  theory 
and  practice  of  tool-instruction  of  Delia- Vos  as  exhibited  at  the 
Philadelphia  Exposition,  and  he  recommended  that  without 
delay  the  course  in  mechanical  engineering  at  the  Institute  be 
completed  by  the  addition  of  a  series  of  Instruction  Shops.  The 
suggestion  was  acted  on,  and  in  the  spring  of  1877  a  class  of 
mechanical  engineering  students  was  given  instruction  in 
chipping  and  filing.  In  his  report  of  1877,  Prest.  Runkle 
announced  his  shops  as  "  near  completion." 

For  this  vigorous  action,  and  above  all  for  his  appreciative 
reports  on  the  Russian  methods,  Prest.  Runkle  deserves  the 
praise  of  American  educators.  Mr.  Runkle  looked  deeper  into 


Chap.  I.]      THE  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL  ESTABLISHED.        5 

the  problem  than  had  Delia- Vos ;  he  saw  that  shop-instruction, 
essential  to  a  mechanical  engineer,  had  elements  of  value  in  a 
general  education. 

The  School  of  Mechanic  Arts  is  a  sub-department  of  the  Insti- 
tute. It  was  established  by  vote  in  1876  and  opened  in  1877. 

It  has  a  two-years'  course  of  study  and  is  open  to  boys  not 
less  than  fifteen  years  of  age.  I  am  not  aware  of  its  being 
regarded  as  in  any  respect  a  preparatory  school  for  the  Insti- 
tute proper,  or  for  any  college  course,  though  the  training  is 
exceedingly  general  in  its  bearing. 

The  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School  was  established  June 
6,  1879.  It  embodied  hopes  long  cherished  and  plans  long 
formed.1 

For  the  first  time  in  America  the  age  of  admission  to  school- 
shops  was  reduced  to  fourteen  years  as  a  minimum,  and  a  very 
general  three-years'  course  of  study  was  organized.  The  ordi- 
nance by  which  the  school  was  established  specified  its  objects 
in  very  general  terms :  — 

"  Its  objects  shall  be  instruction  in  mathematics,  drawing,  and  the  Eng- 
lish branches  of  a  high-school  course,  and  instruction  and  practice  in  the  use 
of  tools.  The  tool-instruction,  as  at  present  contemplated,  shall  include  car- 
pentry, wood- turning,  pattern-making,  iron  clipping  and  filing,  forge-work, 
brazing  and  soldering,  the  use  of  machine-shop  tools,  and  such  other  instruc- 
tion of  a  similar  character,  as  it  may  be  deemed  advisable  to  add  to  the 
foregoing  from  time  to  time. 

"  The  students  will  divide  their  working  hours,  as  nearly  as  possible, 
equally  between  mental  and  manual  exercises. 

"  They  shall  be  admitted,  on  examination,  at  not  less  than  fourteen  years 
of  age,  and  the  course  shall  continue  three  years." 

Another  article  is  as  follows :  — 

"  For  every  sum  of  $1,500  contributed  for  the  establishment  or  permanent 
endowment  of  said  school,  the  donor  shall  be  entitled  to  a  certificate  of 
scholarship  under  which  he  shall  have  the  right  to  send  one  scholar  to  said 
Manual  Training  School  free  of  tuition  charges,  so  long  as  said  school  shall 
exist.'' 

For  the  sake  of  showing  that  our  general  plan  and  policy 
were  fully  outlined  at  that  time,  I  give  some  extracts  from  our 
Prospectus  published  in  1879 :  — 

1  See  Chap.  X.  for  Address  of  1873. 


6  THE   GROWTH   OF  THE  MANUAL   ELEMENT.       [Chap,  I 

"  The  management  of  this  school  does  not  propose  that  its  shops  shall 
enter  into  competition  with  manufacturing  establishments.  Proprietors  of 
machine-shops  and  factories  need  not  look  upon  this  institution  as  a  rival. 

"  In  the  next  place,  the  scope  of  a  single  trade  is  too  narrow  for  educa- 
tional purposes.  Manual  education  should  be  as  broad  and  liberal  as  intel- 
lectual. A  shop  which  manufactures  for  the  market,  and  expects  a  revenue 
from  the  sale  of  its  products,  is  necessarily  confined  to  salable  work,  and  a 
systematic  and  progressive  series  of  lessons  is  impossible. 

"If  the  object  of  the  shop  is  education,  a  student  should  be  allowed  to 
discontinue  any  task  or  process  the  moment  he  has  learned  to  do  it  well.  If 
the  shop  were  intended  to  make  money,  the  students  would  be  kept  at  work 
on  what  they  could  do  best,  at  the  expense  of  breadth  and  versatility." 
Prospectus,  p.  17, 

"  One  great  object  of  the  school  is  to  foster  a  higher  appreciation  of  THE 
VALUE  AND  DIGNITY  OF  INTELLIGENT  LABOR,  and  the  worth  and  respecta- 
bility of  laboring  men.  A  boy  who  sees  nothing  in  manual  labor  but  mere 
brute  force,  despises  both  the  labor  and  the  laborer.  With  the  acquisition 
of  skill  in  himself,  comes  the  ability  and  willingness  to  recognize  skill  in 
his  fellows. 

"  When  once  he  appreciates  skill  in  handicraft,  he  regards  the  skillful 
workman  with  sympathy  and  respect." 

"  It  is  believed  that,  to  all  students,  without  regard  to  plans  for  the  future, 
the  value  of  the  training  which  can  be  got  in  shop-work,  spending  only  eight 
or  ten  hours  per  week,  is  abundantly  sufficient  to  justify  the  expense  of 
materials,  tools,  and  teachers."  Ibid,  p.  10. 

In  a  four-page  circular  issued  in  the  summer  of  1880  before 
the  new  school  was  opened,  occurred  the  following  paragraph :  — 

"  The  Manual  Training  School  is  not  a  mere  workshop ;  the  head  is  to  be 
trained  even  more  than  the  hand.  Specific  trades  will  not  be  taught ;  the 
tool-education  will  be  liberal,  extending  impartially  through  all  the  shops. 

"  It  is  not  expected  that  every  boy  who  attends  the  school  will  become  a 
mechanic,  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  a  boy's  experience  in  the  school 
will  clearly  indicate  whether  he  is  fit  to  become  a  mechanic  or  not." 

In  subsequent  chapters  I  shall  give  the  theory  and  organization 
of  the  school  in  detail. 

At  this  point  I  will  only  give  some  personal  matters  relating 
to  the  origin  of  the  school,  and  a  summary  of  its  history  during 
the  seven  years  it  has  completed. 

In  an  essay  on "  Manual  Education  in  the  Polytechnic 
School,"  published  October  1,  1877,  I  pointed  out  the  features 
of  a  school  that  should  give  a  general  mechanical  course. 


Chap.  I,]  THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE  NAME.  7 

Again,  in  1878,  before  the  St.  Louis  Social  Science  Association 
T  said  :  — 

"  The  manual  education  which  begins  in  the  kindergarten  should  never 
cease.  Just  how  we  shall  supply  the  missing  links  in  the  chain  which  joins 
the  kindergarten  with  the  fully  equipped  shops  of  the  polytechnic  school, 
we  cannot  with  certainty  suggest. 

"  The  problem  is  an  open  one,  and  thousands  of  earnest  and  intelligent 
educators  are  devoting  themselves  to  its  solution. 

"  I  trust  that  St.  Louis  will  in  this,  as  in  many  other  educational  matters, 
contribute  largely.  .  .  . 

"  Girls  should  be  taught  [besides  drawing]  needle-craft,  and,  in  the  higher 
grades,  the  elements  of  cooking.  .  .  . 

"  At  ten  years  give  boys  knives  and  gauges  and  hammers  and  saws  and 
squares.  Let  them  carve  in  soft  wood  and  plaster,  and  learn  to  strike  true  and 
square  blows.  At  twelve  they  are  ready  to  use  the  plane,  the  chisel,  and  the 
whole  chest  of  tools.  Until  you  reach  machine  tools,  the  shop  outfit  may 
be  of  the  simplest  character.  Benches,  vises  and  a  half-dozen  tools  for  each 
student  in  a  class  is  all ;  the  whole  cost  would  hardly  exceed  that  of  the 
furniture  in  an  ordinary  schoolroom." 

These  suggestions,  coupled  with  statements  and  explanations 
of  what  was  being  done  in  Moscow,  in  Paris,  in  the  Netherlands, 
and  in  Worcester  and  Boston,  led  Mr.  Samuel  Cupples  to  offer 
to  assist  in  the  establishment  and  support  of  a  more  elementary 
school  in  which  manual  training  should  be  a  prominent  feature. 
He  offered  to  give  83,000  a  year  for  five  years  for  the  current 
expenses  of  the  school.  Messrs.  Edwin  Harrison  and  Gottlieb 
Conzelman,  both  of  whom  had  contribiited  to  the  shop  outfit  in 
the  polytechnic  school  already  referred  to,  agreed  to  co-operate. 
Dr.  Eliot,  chancellor  of  the  University,  presented  the  land  ;  Mr. 
Harrison  erected  the  building ;  Mr.  Conzelman  partially 
furnished  it;  and  with  Mr.  Cupples  to  help  meet  its  current 
expenses,  the  school  was  an  assured  fact. 

In  addition  to  these  four  men,  fully  twenty  other  people 
contributed  sums  varying  from  $100  to  $2,000,  to  complete  the 
equipment. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  first  real  Manual  Training  School 
for  students  of  intermediate  grade.  All  other  steps  in  the 
workshop  direction  had  been  with  older  students,  and  in 
strictly  technical  schools ;  or  they  had  been,  as  in  France  and 
Belgium,  "  trade  "  schools,  tjere  was  a  large  school  for  general 


8  THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  MANUAL   ELEMENT.       [Chap,  L 

education  on  a  new  and  clearly  defined  plan,  admitting  boys  as 
young  as  fourteen  years. 

The  origin  of  the  name  is  a  matter  of  some  interest.  The 
author  had  already  published  two  essays  on  "'Manual  Educa- 
tion," 1  and  the  phrase  "  manual  training  "  had  been  freely  used. 
Without  hesitation,  therefore,  he  suggested  "  Manual  Training 
School "  as  an  appropriate  name.  At  first  the  name  did  not 
commend  itself  to  the  chancellor  of  the  University.  It  had  a 
flavor  of  the  army  about  it,  he  feared,  and  it  failed  to  suggest 
the  thoroughly  intellectual  nature  of  all  the  work.  At  the 
same  time  it  was  desirable  to  prevent  any  chance  of  confusing 
the  school  with  a  variety  of  "  manual  labor "  schools  which 
during  the  last  fifty  years  had  appeared  in  various  parts  of  the 
country." 

In  spite  of  Shakespere,  there  is  much  in  a  name,  and  it  was 
desirable  that  the  name  should  not  create  a  prejudice  against 
the  school.  It  is  possible  that  the  chancellor  was  right ;  it  is 
certain  that  we  have  not  escaped  misapprehension  and  prejudice, 
tho  correct  ideas  seem  at  last  to  prevail.  The  name  appears 
to  have  been  finally  received  with  favor,  and  I  doubt  if  the  con- 
cession is  to  be  regretted.2 

The  original  Managing  Board  of  the  School  consisted  of 
Messrs.  Edwin  Harrison,  John  T.  Davis,  Henry  W.  Eliot, 
Samuel  Cupples,  and  Gottlieb  Conzelman.  Since  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  school  the  following  members  have  been  added  ;  — 
Messrs.  William  Brown,  Ralph  Sellew,  and  William  L.  Huse. 


1  The  paper  of  May,  1878,  printed  by  GL  I.  Jones  &  Co.,  St.  Louis,  was  after- 
wards published  by  E.  Steiger  of  New  York. 

2  The  writer  has  now  in  his  possession  the  following  list  of  suggestions  handed 
him  by  Dr.  Eliot  with  the  statement  that  the  last  one  was  the  least  preferred. 

PROF.  WOODWARD. 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  have  thought  over  all  the  names,  searched  the  dictionaries  and  etymologies, 
—  but  can  only  come  back  to  what  we  once  considered  and  rejected:  MECHANICAL  SCHOOL  OF 
WASHINGTON  UNIVERSITY. 

It  is  better  than:  HAND-AND-HEAD-WORK  SCHOOL,  TECHNICAL  SCHOOL,  INDUSTRIAL 
SCHOOL,  TRADE  SCHOOL  or  HAND-TRADE  SCHOOL,  SKILLED  LABOR  SCHOOL,  SCHOOL  OF 
INDUSTRIAL  ARTS,  or  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL  which  I  put  last  as  being  misleading  and 
somewhat  belittling. 

Yours,  W.  Gr.  ELIOT. 

The  "Mechanic  Art"  School  of  Boston  is  still  so  named;  and  Mr.  Courtlandt 
Palmer  of  the  Grammercy  Park  School,  New  York,  speaks  of  his  "Tool-House." 


Chap.  I,]  THE  ANNALS   OF   THE   SCHOOL.  9 

The  following  condensed  sketch  of  the  progress  of  the  school 
will  suffice  for  general  purposes. 

The  original  building  erected  by  Mr.  Harrison  at  an  expense 
of  $13,000  was  100  feet  by  50  and  40,  and  fronted  Eighteenth 
Street ;  it  is  well  shown  in  the  accompanying  cut.  [See  next 
page,  Fig.  2.]  The  third  floor  contained  the  study  and  recitation 
rooms  ;  the  lower  stories,  the  shops. 

With  the  exception  of  the  engine  and  a  supply  of  tools  for 
the  students  of  the  engineering  (polytechnic)  school,  the  shops 
were  furnished  only  as  they  were  needed  by  the  growing  school. 

The  first  year  only  wood-working  facilities  were  needed ;  the 
second  year,  forging ;  and  the  third  year,  the  fitting  (machine) 
shop. 

On  September  6,  1880,  the  school  opened  with  a  single  class 
of  about  50  pupils.  The  whole  number  enrolled  during  the  first 
year  was  67.  A  public  exhibition  of  drawing  and  shop-work 
was  given  June  16,  1881. 

The  second  year  of  the  school  opened  September  12,  1881, 
and  closed  June  14,  1882.  There  were  two  classes,  61  pupils 
belonging  to  the  first  year,  and  46  to  the  second  year,  making 
107  in  all. 

During  the  summer  of  1882,  the  large  addition  fronting 
Washington  Avenue  was  built  and  furnished.  This  addition 
cost,  including  the  land,  125,000.  About  $5,000  was  spent  in 
additional  tools,  furniture  and  shop  appliances. 

By  this  extension  the  capacity  of  the  school  was  nearly 
doubled,  and  its  facilities  were  well  balanced.  The  result  is  an 
exceedingly  satisfactory  arrangement  for  a  school  which  must 
provide  all  the  features  of  the  daily  program.  The  money 
for  the  large  addition  was  furnished  in  equal  parts  by  Messrs. 
Ralph  Sellew  and  G.  Conzelman.  A  view  of  the  building  is 
shown  in  the  frontispiece,  and  the  details  of  the  floor  plans  are 
given  later  in  the  book. 

The  third  year  of  the  school  opened  September  11,  1882,  and 
closed  June  14,  1883,  with  the  *  graduation  of  its  first  class. 
Twenty-nine  young  men  received  diplomas  and  medals.  The 
enrollment  for  the  year  was  176. 

The  fourth  year  of  the  school  opened  September  10,  1883. 


10 


THE   GROWTH  OF  THE  MANUAL   ELEMENT.      [Chap,  I, 


The  enrollment  for  the  year  was  201.     Twenty-nine  students 
received  diplomas  in  June. 


The  fifth  year  began  September  8, 1884.  The  enrollment  was 
218.  Thirty-nine  students  graduated  at  the  end  of  the  year. 

During  the  year  1884,  the  school  lost  two  of  its  best  and 
earliest  friends  in  the  death  of  two  of  its  managers,  Ralph 
Sellew  and  Gottlieb  Conzelman. 


Chap.  I.]  OTHER  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOLS.  11 


At  the  same  time,  through  their  liberality  and  the  co-oper- 
ation of  Mr.  Samuel  Cupples,  a  member  of  the  Managing  Board 
from  the  first,  an  endowment  of  $115,000  was  secured  to  the 
school.1 

The  sixth  year  opened  September  14,  1885.  The  enrollment 
for  the  year  was  234.  The  number  of  students  graduating  was 
forty-jive. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  these  forty-five,  and  one  who 
remained  to  the  end  but  failed  to  win  a  diploma,  represent 
just  100  boys  who  during  the  three  years  had  belonged  to  the 
class.  The  actual  graduation  of  45  per  cent  of  those  at  any 
time  belonging  to  the  class  may  fairly  represent  the  tenacity  of 
our  classes. 

The  seventh  year  closed  on  June  8,  1887  with  the  graduation 
of  fifty-two  boys.  The  enrollment  of  the  year  was  230. 

MANUAL  TRAINING  ELSEWHERE. 

The  growth  of  manual  training  as  shown  by  the  establish- 
ment of  other  and  similar  schools  has  been  most  remarkable. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  mention  all,  but  a  few  deserve  to 
be  named.  Nearly  every  polytechnic,  agricultural  and  mechan- 
ical school  in  the  country  has  shop-work  incorporated  in  its 
technical  courses.  The  manual  training  school  proper  is  of 
lower  grade,  and  far  more  general  in  its  character. 

The  Baltimore  Manual  Training  School,  a  public  school,  on 
the  same  footing  as  the  high  school,  was  opened  in  1883. 


1  A  few  days  before  his  death  Mr.  Sellew  came  to  a  definite  agreement  with 
Messrs.  Cupples  and  Conzelman,  to  contribute  $25,000  in  the  course  of  five  years, 
towards  a  permanent  endowment  for  the  School,  the  income  of  which  should 
chiefly  be  used  to  secure  the  admission  and  instruction  of  worthy  boys  in  strait- 
ened circumstances. 

Although  the  agreement  had  not  been  recorded  in  legal  form  at  the  time  of 
Mr.  Sellew 's  death,  it  has  since  been  fully  executed,  in  accordance  with  the  original 
intention,  by  Mr.  T.  G.  Sellew,  of  New  York,  as  the  residuary  legatee  of  the  estate. 

In  memory  of  Ralph  Sellew  and  of  his  profound  interest  and  liberality  towards 
the  school,  the  Board  of  Managers  adopted  the  following  resolution  on  the  19th  of 
February,  1884  :  — 

"Resolved,  That  to  perpetuate  his  (Ralph  Sellew's)  name  and  the  memory  of  his  good 
works,  a  gold  medal,  to  be  known  as  the  '  Sellew  Medal,'  shall  be  awarded  annually  to  that  mem- 
ber of  the  graduating  class  who  in  the  opinion  of  the  teachers  and  committee  stands  highest  in 
hia  class." 


12 


THE   GROWTH    OF   THE  MANUAL   ELEMENT. 


[Chap,  L 


The  Chicago  Manual  Training  School,  established  as  an  incor- 
porated school  by  the  Commercial  Club  of  that  city,  was  opened 
in  January,  1884.  The  school  is  in  a  beautiful  building,  and  is 
admirably  equipped  in  every  way.  Under  the  able  direction  of 
Dr.  H.  H.  Belfield  it  is  deservedly  popular.  Its  last  catalogue 


FIG.  2.     CHICAGO  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 

shows  a  list  of  190  students.     Fig.  2  gives  a  view  of  the  build- 
ing of  the  Chicago  school.1 

Manual  training  was  introduced  into  the  high  school  of  Eau 
Claire,  Wisconsin,  in  1884. 

1  For  the  record  of  its  graduates  see  Chapter  V. 

The  engraving  of  the  Chicago  Manual  Training  School,  was  made  from  a 
drawing  of  the  building  made  by  a  pupil  of  that  school  from  actual  measurements 
made  by  himself. 


Chap.  I] 


THE  SCOTT  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL. 


13 


The  "  Scott  Manual  Training  School "  was  organized  as  a 
part  of  the  high  school  of  Toledo  in  1884.     A  picture  of  the 


manual  portion  of  the  building  is  shown  in  Fig.  3.     For  floor 
plans,  etc.,  of  the  Toledo  School,  see  Chapter  XV. 


14  THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  MANUAL  ELEMENT.        [Chap,  L 

Manual  training  was  introduced  into  the  College  (high 
school)  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  1884. 

The  Philadelphia  Manual  Training  School,  a  public  high 
school,  was  opened  in  September,  1885. 

The  Omaha  high  school  introduced  manual  training  in  1885. 

The  Grammercy  Park  Tool-House,  New  York  City,  was 
opened  in  1884. 

The  Manual  Training  School  of  Denver  University  was 
opened  in  September,  1885,  as  a  preparatory  school.  In  1886, 
tuition  in  it  was  made  free  to  Colorado  boys. 

Dr.  Adler's  Workingman's  School  for  poor  children  has  for 
several  years  taught  manual  training  to  the  very  lowest  grades.1 

Swathmore  College,  near  Philadelphia,  has  for  two  years  had 
regular  manual  training. 

The  Cleveland  Manual  Training  School  was  incorporated  in 
1885,  and  opened  in  connection  with  the  city  high  school, 
in  1886. 

New  Haven,  which  had  for  some  time  encouraged  the  use  of 
tools  by  the  pupils  of  several  of  its  grammar  schools,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1886,  opened  a  regular  shop  and  furnished  systematic 
instruction  in  tool-work. 

The  school  board  of  Chicago  added  manual  training  to  the 
course  of  the  "  West  Side  High  School "  in  September,  1886. 

The  "  Technical  School  of  Cincinnati "  was  opened  in  Sep- 
tember, 1886.  It  is  in  all  but  the  name  a  manual  training 
school. 

In  a  large  range  of  public  and  private  schools  of  still  lower 
grades  manual  exercises  of  a  rather  fugitive  character  have 
been  introduced,  which  may  lead  to  the  establishment  of  sys- 
tematic tool  and  drawing  instruction. 

At  the  risk  of  appearing  to  overlook  equally  important  move- 
ments elsewhere,  of  which  I  have  little  or  no  information,  I  will 

i  I  have  not  space  to  give  even  a  sketch  of  this  most  admirable  school.  Unlike 
the  Manual  Training  School  proper,  it  is  a  school  for  the  youngest  children.  Its 
course  of  study  ends  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  just  when  our  school  begins.  For  an 
exposition  of  its  thoroughly  philosophical  and  practical  curriculum,  I  must  refer 
the  reader  to  the  elaborate  reports  of  Dr.  Felix  Adler.  As  a  practical  test  of 
manual  methods  for  children  from  the  kindergarten  age  to  the  high  school,  it  is 
worthy  of  the  most  careful  study. 


Chap,  L]  THE   TULANE  HIGH  SCHOOL.  15 

venture  to  name  the  very  suggestive  public  school  experiments 
in  wood-work  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  in  Peru  and  Moline,  111.,  in 
each  case  under  the  direction  of  the  superintendent  of  public 
schools. 

A  preparatory  department  of  Tulane  University,  New  Or- 
leans, known  as  the  Tulane  High  School  has  been  established 
as  a  regular  manual  training  school.  It  is  reported  as  in  a 
very  flourishing  condition.1 

What  has  been  done  in  this  direction  is  but  a  feeble  indica- 
tion of  the  profound  interest  prevailing.  In  every  city  the 
matter  is  under  discussion,  and  in  many  steps  have  been  taken 
towards  a  regular  establishment.  Another  year  will  doubtless 
see  public  manual  training  schools  in  Boston,  St.  Paul,  Min- 
neapolis,2 Louisville,  San  Francisco,  and  Milwaukee. 

1  Prof.  J.  M.  Ordway,  the  director  of  the  Tulane  High  School,  was  for  some 
years  in  practical  charge  of  the  Mechanic  Art  School  of  the  Massachusetts  Insti- 
tute of  Technology,  though  filling  the  chair  of  Applied  Chemistry. 

2  Since  writing  the  above,  manual  training  has  been  introduced  into  the  high 
school  of  Minneapolis. 


16 


FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  IL 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   FIRST  YEAR  OF  THE   MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 

IT  will  be  more  convenient  for  those  who  hope  to  be  guided 
somewhat  by  our  experience,  if  I  give  in  detail  the  work 
and  appliances  of  the  several  classes  or  grades  separately.  I 
shall  therefore  devote  this  chapter  to  the  work  of  the  first  year 
in  the  school;  and  I  shall  describe  not  so  exactly  my  school 
(which  has,  I  am  painfully  aware,  many  shortcomings),  as  an 
ideal  school,  which,  better  than  any  real,  shall  embody  the 
essential  features  I  wish  to  present. 

The  boys  on  admission  average  fifteen  years  old,  —  none  are 
less  than  fourteen.  All  have  sustained  fairly  an  examination 
in  elementary  arithmetic  (written  and  oral),  geography,  com- 
position (including  spelling,  penmanship  and  the  use  of  good 
English),  and  reading. 

I  shall  assume  that  there  are  seventy-two  boys  in  the  class, 
arranged  in  three  equal  divisions.1 

The  DAILY  PROGRAM  2  is  as  follows :  — 


DIVISION. 

9—  1O. 

10—  11. 

11—12. 

13-1. 

1—2. 

2—3. 

3—4. 

I. 

Wood-Shop. 

Mathe- 
matics. 

Science. 

Recess. 

Latin 
or 
English. 

Drawing. 

11. 

Mathe- 
matics. 

Latin 
or 

English. 

Wood-Shop. 

Drawing. 

Science. 

III. 

Latin 
or 
English. 

Mathe- 
matics. 

Science. 

Drawing. 

Wood-Shop. 

1  Three  divisions,  or  a  multiple  of  three  divisions,  is  the  most  convenient 
numher  for  a  class,  as  all  the  shop  appliances  are  thus  kept  in  continuous  use. 

2  For  a  program  which  gives  an  hour-and-a-half  instead  of  two  hours  daily  to 
shop,  see  Appendix  for  the  program  of  the  Toledo  school. 


Chap,  tt]          SCHOOL   PROGRAM  AND  APPLIANCES.  17 

It  will  be  observed  that  each  division  has  three  recitations 
for  which  three  full  hours  are  allowed.  If  the  actual  recitation 
time  is  but  forty  minutes  per  subject,  the  boys  have  twenty 
minutes  after  reciting  for  studying  under  the  eye  of  the 
teacher.  About  two  hours  of  solid  study  per  day  should  be 
done  at  home. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  the  drawing  teacher  is  also  the 
mathematical  teacher ;  and  that  the  science  teacher  is  also  the 
language  teacher.  One  teacher  has  entire  charge  of  the  shop- 
work.  The  class  therefore  requires  three  teachers. 

The  appliances  are  readily  described :  — 

1.  An  assembly  room  (which  may  also  be  used  as  a  recitation- 
room)  with  seventy-two  single  desks  and  chairs. 

2.  A  drawing  room  (fitted  also  as  a  recitation-room),  with 
twenty-four  drawing  stands,  and  a  case  for  seventy-two  drawing 
boards. 

0 

3.  A   shop   about  forty  feet   square,  furnished  as  described 
later  on. 

4.  A  store-room  in  which  lumber  is  kept  and  where  stock 
may  be  reduced  to  "  blank  "  sizes  by  a  band-saw.    Cupboards  in 
which  finished  exercises  may  be  put  away  for  exhibition  may 
stand  at  any  convenient  places. 

5.  I  should  not  omit,  in  addition  to  the  usual  wardrobe,  a 
spacious  and  well-furnished   lavatory  where   twenty-four  boys 
may  wash  at  once. 

All  the  rooms  are  above  ground,  well  lighted  with  windows 
running  to  the  ceiling,  and  well  ventilated.  In  cold  weather 
the  ventilation  should  be  effected  without  resorting  to  the 
windows. 

Returning  now  to  the  program,  we  find  a  great  deal  that  is 
familiar  to  every  teacher. 

The  mathematics  of  the  year  is  higher  arithmetic  and  algebra, 
about  twenty-four  weeks  of  the  former  and  fifteen  of  the  latter, 
with  five  recitations  per  week. 

The  science  is  Huxley's  Primer,  physical  geography,  and 
botany,  with  individual  collections  and  herbariums,  and  class 
excursions;  or  the  equivalent  of  the  above. 

The  language  study  is  English  lessons  once  a  week  for  all, 


18  FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.    [Chap.  IL 

and  a  choice  between  Latin  on  the  one  hand  and  more  English 
lessons  and  history  on  the  other,  four  times  per  week. 

Under  the  head  of  drawing,  penmanship  comes  two  half- 
hours  per  week. 

DRAWING. 

I  must  say  considerable  about  drawing,  as  very  few  teachers 
have  had  suitable  opportunity  for  the  study  of  projections,  and 
for  instrumental  work. 

We  begin  with  free-hand  projection  work  on  the  blackboard. 
Plane-faced  blocks  are  used  as  models,  and  the  pupils  are  taught 
to  make  three  projections  and  to  arrange  them  consistently  as 
in  Fig.  5,  which  gives  three  "views"  of  a  block  which  is 


FIG.  4.    ORTHOGRAPHIC  AND  ISOMETRIC  PROJECTIONS. 

shown  in  "isometric"  projection  in  the  lower  corner.  The 
three  views  are  those  indicated  by  the  arrows  A,  B,  and  C. 
A  may  be  called  the  "  top  "  view ;  B  the  "  front "  view ;  and 
C  the  "  side  "  view,  looking  towards  the  right.  The  observer 
is  supposed  to  be  so  far  from  the  object  that  there  appears 
no  convergence  between  parallel  lines.  In  every  projection, 
invisible  lines  (corners,  edges,  etc.)  are  drawn  broken  (with 
short  dashes).1 

1  The  principles  involved  in  orthographic  drawing  may  thus  be  concisely 
stated:  — 

1.  All  lines  which  are  perpendicular  to  the  picture  plane  are  projected  inpohiitf. 

2.  The  projections  of  lines  parallel  to  the  picture  plane  are  parallel  and  equaJ 
to  the  lines  themselves. 


Chap.  H.]  EXAMPLE  OF  A    WORKING  DBA  WING.  19 

Another  example  of  a  working  drawing  is  shown  in  Fig.  5. 
Construction  lines  are  made  of  fine  dots. 

This  figure  gives  a  top  view,  an  end  view,  and  a  side  view  of 
the  mortise  piece,  the  last  as  seen  from  the  right.  In  isometric 
projection  is  shown  the  tenon-piece  and  wedge  which  are  to  fill 
the  mortise.  The  45°  line  shown  in  the  figure  gives  a  con- 
venient means  of  finding  the  side  view  from  the  other  views 
without  the  use  of  measuring  tools,  using  only  T-square  and 
triangle. 


Fie.  5.    A  BEVELED  CORNER-PIECE  OP  A  FRAME,  WITH  A  BLIND  MORTISE  FOR  A  HALF- 
DOVETAILED  TENON  AND  A  WEDGE. 

While  an  isometric  drawing  of  the  tenon  is  very  satisfactory, 
an  isometric  of  the  mortise  would  show  very  poorly  in  conse- 
quence of  its  peculiar  shape  and  position.  Both  teacher  and 
pupil  should  thoroughly  understand  these  drawings.  The  line 
x y  will  be  explained  below.  If  there  is 

3.  The  projections  of  parallel  lines  which  are  oblique  to  the  picture  plane  are 
parallel. 

4.  The  projections  of  lines  oblique  to  the  picture  plane  are  shorter  than  the 
lines  themselves,  i.e.,  the  lines  are  "  foreshortened"  in  the  drawing. 

5.  There  is  a  separate  picture  plane  for  every  "  view,"  or  projection.    In  the 
case  of  a  "  top  "  or  "  bottom  "  view,  the  picture  plane  is  horizontal.    For  a  "  front " 
or  "back"  view,  the  plane  is  vertical.    For  a  "side"  view,  the  picture  plane  is 
vertical  and  perpendicular  to  the  front  vertical  plane. 


20 


FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.    [Chap,  IL 


the  least  obscurity  in  this  drawing,  let  the  reader  take  it  to  a 
first-class  workman  and  have  him  make  an  exact  model  of  the 
piece,  full  or  double  size. 

As  a  third  example  (and  the  ingenious  teacher  will  then  be 
able  to  carry  them  on  indefinitely),  I  give  an  exercise  whiph 
recently  I  gave  to  test  the  proficiency  of  a  class.  I  took  an 
empty  chalk-box  without  a  cover,  and  made  a  small  hole  in  one 
of  the  sides ;  then  placing  the  box  on  the  table,  I  passed  a  slen- 
der, straight  stick  over  the  end,  down  through  this  hole  to  the 

table  outside  the  box, 
and  let  it  rest  touching 
the  table.  The  pupils 
were  to  draw  a  top  view, 
a  side  view,  and  an  end 
view  of  the  box,  with 
consistent  views  of  the 
stick.  The  drawings 
as  required  are  shown 
in  Fig.  6.  The  pupils 
were  to  estimate  di- 
mensions and  to  use 
any  scale  they  liked. 
The  chief  things  were 
fullness  and  consist- 


FIQ.  6.    PROJECTION  DRAWINGS  OF  A  CHALK  Box 
AND  ROD. 


ency. 


If  this  is  to  any  extent  unfamiliar,  the  reader  should  con- 
struct a  model  and  examine  it  in  connection  with  the  views 
in  Fig.  6.  I  assume  only  a  line  thickness  for  the  sides  of  the 
box,  and  for  the  stick.  In  the  side  view  that  part  of  the  stick 
between  a  and  b  is  invisible. 

A  little  later  the  pupil  will  be  able  to  draw  an  oblique  view 
which  will  give  the  true  length  of  the  rod. 

The  intimate  connection  of  all  this  work  with  the  shop  work 
is  obvious.  The  drawing  and  shop  teachers  must  work  in 
harmony,  and  considerable  drawing  must  be  done  during  shop 
hours,  as  will  be  shown  later. 

In  the  drawing  class,  pencil  work  supplements  black-board 
work.  The  latter  is  of  necessity  free-hand  (tho  a  string  is 


Chap, 


PLANS,   ELEVATIONS,    SECTIONS. 


21 


an  excellent  instrument  in  transferring  dimensions  from  one 
projection  to  another)  ;  the  paper  work  may  be  free-hand,  tho 
it  is  better  to  have  a  part  of  it  done  with  instruments,  so  as  to 
secure  habits  of  precision,  and  fix  high  ideals  in  the  memory. 
A  finely  executed  drawing,  when  fully  understood,  has  many 
of  the  elements  of  beauty,  and  makes  a  lasting  impression  upon 
the  student. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  a  class  should  have  repeated 
and  alternating  exercises  in  making  drawings  from  objects,  and 
objects  from  drawings.  But  let  the  teacher  make  haste  slowly, 
and  give  no  exercise  to  the  class  which  he  has  not  first  done  himself. 
Clay  may  be  used  in  reading  drawings,  i.e.,  in  translating  draw- 
ings into  concrete  forms.  An  object  drawn  this  week  may  be 
reproduced  next  from  the  drawings  alone. 

Simple  objects  are  generally  sufficiently  defined  by  two 
projections,  called  "  plan  "  and  "  elevation."  A  "  section  "  is  a 
projection  of  a  part  of  an  object  supposed  to  be  cut  in  two  by 
a  plane.  One  part  is  supposed  to  be  removed,  and  the  observer 
is  supposed  to  be  looking  perpendicularly  to  the  cutting  plane, 
and  towards  the  newly-cut  face.  It  is  customary  to  shade  sec- 
tional faces  by  oblique  parallel  lines,  and,  if  the  section  shows 
two  or  more  separate 
pieces  of  material,  to 
give  the  shade  lines  on 
different  pieces  differ- 
ent directions.  For 
example,  suppose  that 
for  the  sake  of  clear- 
ness, I  wish  to  show 
the  pupil  how  the  three 
pieces  shown  in  Fig.  5 
are  put  together.  I 
make  an  elevation  of 
the  finished  joint  and 
then  draw  across  it 
the  trace  of  my  intersecting  plane.  The  plane,  represented  by 
the  broken  and  dotted  line  x  y,  in  Fig.  5,  cuts  the  upper  portion 
of  the  pieces  off,  splitting  the  tenon  and  wedge  in  two.  The 


FIG.  7.    SHOWING  SECTION  OP  THE  BLIND  HALF-DOVE- 
TAIL JOINT,  REPRESENTED  IN  FlG.  5,  ON  If.  19. 


22        FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  IL 

lower  portion  of  the  joint  is  then  shown  in  plan,  or  top-view,  in 
Fig.  7.  The  tenon  and  wedge  are  seen  in  position,  the  latter 
not  driven  quite  "  home." 1 

As  soon  as  the  pupils  are  familiar  with  making  and  reading 
drawings,  they  should  be  put  to  instrumental  work  ;  and  here, 
as  in  all  other  instances  throughout  the  school,  we  apply  a 
simple  principle :  instruction  before  construction.  The  use  of 
instruments  is  made  the  direct  object  of  instruction  and  study. 
Drawing  boards  should  be  of  well-seasoned  white  pine,  about 
20"  X  30".  Stretch  Whatman's  hot  pressed  paper  the  full  size 
of  the  board.2 

The  essential  drawing  instruments  (which  should  be  of  Ger- 
man silver,  of  fair  quality)  are  a  30"  T-square ;  a  45°  triangle  ; 
a  30°-60°  triangle ;  a  pair  of  dividers ;  a  pair  of  compasses  with 
pen,  pencil,  and  needle  point ;  a  drawing  pen ;  a  bow  pen ;  a 
six-inch  box-wood  or  ivory  rule  ;  a  metallic  or  horn  protractor ; 
a  set  of  thumb-tacks  (for  fastening  a  cover  over  the  drawing 
paper)  ;  and  a  bottle  of  prepared  India  ink.3  The  cost  of  these 
instruments  with  the  drawing  board  is  from  $6  to  $10.  A 
cheaper  set  is  hardly  worth  buying.  No  good  work  can  be 
expected  from  poor  instruments,  and  the  pupil  should  not  be 
at  liberty  to  charge  poor  work  upon  his  tools. 

The  first  two  sheets  of  instrumental  drawing  should  be 
devoted  to  exercises  involving  only  the  use  of  the  instruments. 
Every  pupil  must  learn  to  draw  smooth,  uniform  lines,  light 
and  heavy,  straight  and  curved,  with  long  and  short  radii, 
curves  and  tangents,  reverse  curves,  etc.  There  should  be 
abundant  practice  at  line-shading,  equidistant,  uniform  lines, 
and  at  unequal  distances;  at  lines  beginning  sharply  on  one 
line  and  ending  sharply  on  another,  either  straight  or  curved. 

1  In  iny  simple  definition  of  a  section,  I  do  not  exclude  a  drawing  which  shows 
several  sections  made  by  different  planes,  as  on  more  complicated  drawings. 

2  Soak  thoroughly  the  entire  sheet  (except  a  half-inch  border  all  around)  in 
clean  water,  and  then,  applying  good  mucilage  to  the  border,  paste  it  down  as 
smoothly  as  possible,  and  let  it  dry. 

3  This  ink-bottle  should  in  every  case  be  set  inclined  in  a  block  of  wood  fixed 
in  the  front  of  the  student's  private  drawer  (in  the  drawing  stand),  which  should 
stand  partially  open  while  the  student  is  at  work.    It  is  a  good  plan  to  have  a 
"  stop  "  on  the  drawer  so  that  it  cannot  be  drawn  wholly  out.    Later  in  the  course 
pupils  should  be  shown  how  to  prepare  India  ink  from  the  stick. 


Chap,  II.]  INSTRUMENTAL   DRAWING.  23 

Pupils  should  learn  to  draw  concentric  circles  without  boring 
a  big  hole  at  the  center. 

In  short,  the  pupils  should  learn  to  draw  neatly  and  accu- 
rately whatever  lines  they  attempt,  and  to  keep  fingers  and 
instruments  clean.  When  this  is  achieved,  they  are  ready  to 
draw  from  objects. 

The  first  objects  drawn  should  be  blocks  and  joints,  similar 
to  those  shown  in  Figs.  4-7,  which  should  be  carefully  measured 
and  drawn  to  scale,  with  great  care  as  to  both  quality  and 
quantity.  The  next  object  should  be  more  difficult,  yet  not 
too  hard,  nor  involving  too  many  hours  of  work. 

Two  short  exercises  are  better  than  one  long  one.  Select  at 
first  such  objects  as  large  bolts,  nuts,  elbows  and  joints  of  iron 
pipes,  having  the  real  objects  at  hand.  Then  later  the  tail-stock 
or  the  head-stock  of  a  speed-lathe ;  an  iron  center-rest ;  a  vise ; 
a  jack-plane ;  a  large  stop  valve ;  a  monkey-wrench  (large  size)  ; 
etc.  It  may  be  well  to  give  one-half  of  a  division  one  object, 
and  the  other  half  another. 

The  first  drawings  of  an  object  should  be  free-hand  projec- 
tions executed  on  a  scale  large  enough  to  show  clearly  every 
measurable  detail  of  form.  When  the  free-hand  drawing  has 
been  made,  the  pupil  should  measure  the  object  with  rule  and 
calipers,  and  record  these  actual  dimensions  on  the  correspond- 
ing parts  of  the  free-hand  drawing.  This  free-hand  drawing, 
thus  "  figured,"  should  serve  as  a  "  sketch "  from  which  the 
finished  instrumental  drawing  of  the  object  is  to  be  made. 

To  make  the  drawing  of  the  object  complete,  not  only  pro- 
jections and  sections  of  it  as  a  whole  are  to  be  made,  but 
projections  of  the  parts  in  detail,  taken  one  by  one. 

The  conventions  of  shadow-lining  may  be  readily  taught  in 
connection  with  such  work. 

Meanwhile  the  class  should  be  practised  in  single  projection, 
with  pencil  shading,  of  simple  tools,  pieces  of  furniture,  and 
miscellaneous  objects,  from  either  objects  or  from  other  draw- 
ings differently  made.  One  drawing  a  week,  done  "out  of 
hours,"  is  a  moderate  request. 

Finally,  throughout  the  year,  instruction  should  be  given  in 
LETTERING,  and  a  large  allowance  of  time  should  be  given  to 


24        FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING    SCHOOL.     [Chap,  II. 

the  practice  of  letter-making,  of  a  great  variety  of  styles, 
both  free-hand  and  with  instruments,  with  pencil  and  with 
ink. 

While  the  above  explicit  account  of  our  work  in  drawing 
during  the  first  year  may  be  readily  comprehended  by  a  teacher 
already  familiar  with  instrumental  work,  it  is  quite  impossible 
for  one  wholly  unfamiliar  with  the  use  of  drawing  instruments 
to  appreciate  either  my  directions  or  the  work  itself.  Observe 
that  we  do  not  indulge  in  picture-making,  nor  in  ambitious  and 
fruitless  attempts  to  appreciate  fine  art,  not  to  do  artistic  work, 
as  may  older  and  special  students. 

The  ideas  we  teach  are  fundamental,  and  the  practice  we 
require  is  the  stepping-stone  to  the  more  difficult  and  more 
finished  work  of  the  subsequent  years. 

Here  let  me  say  a  word  upon  the  question  I  have  heard  ear- 
nestly discussed  by  drawing  teachers :  Should  pupils  be  allowed 
to  use  rulers  to  assist  them  in  drawing  lines  which  should  be 
straight?  In  the  first  place,  I  remark  that  the  question  is  rela- 
tively of  small  importance,  and  it  has  been  allowed  to  cover  out 
of  sight  another  question  of  ten  times  more  consequence,  viz. : 
What  does  the  line  mean?  The  line  has,  or  should  have,  a  great 
deal  of  meaning,  and  it  should  be  adequate  to  express  that 
meaning.  When  a  line  is  fully  understood,  it  becomes  trans- 
figured ;  it  is  no  longer  a  mere  line,  —  it  is  the  outline  of  an 
object,  the  intersection  of  two  surfaces,  the  expression  of 
an  idea  or  of  a  fact.  This  is  the  important  thing,  which  no 
fussing  about  hard  and  soft  pencils,  single-stroke  or  built-up 
lines,  straight  edges  and  curved  rulers  should  be  permitted 
to  hide. 

Then,  secondly,  if  the  eye  and  the  mind  are  to  be  cultivated, 
there  should  be  continual  reference  to  drawings  which  are 
nearly  perfect:  where  straight  lines  are  straight;  where  cir- 
cular arcs  are  circular ;  where  parallel  lines  are  equidistant ; 
and  where  three  or  more  lines,  which  are  supposed  to  meet  at  a 
point,  actually  do  so  meet.  For  the  sake  of  a  power  of  execu- 
tion by  both  methods,  free-hand  and  mechanical  drawing  should 
alternate.  It  is,  however,  foolish  and  illogical  to  dwell  upon 
certain  considerations  which  only  accomplished  artists  can 


Chap,  H]  THE  ELEMENTS   OF  JOINERY.  25 

appreciate.     They  are  a  thousand  times  above  the  heads  of  one's 
pupils,  and  far  removed  from  the  plain  work  they  should  do. 

THE   WORK  IN   WOOD. 

I  now  turn  to  the  still  more  unfamiliar  details  of  our  shop- 
work.  I  assume  that  what  I  have  said  about  the  drawing  has 
been  read  and  understood. 

As  before  stated  the  shop  should  be  a  well-lighted  room  about 
forty  feet  square.  It  should  contain  twenty-four  single  (or 
twelve  double)  benches,  with  twenty-four  "  coach-maker's " 
vises,  twenty-four  wood  lathes  and  twenty-four  sets  of  common 
tools.  The  engraving  gives  a  view  of  our  shop  with  the  boys 
at  their  places,  taken  from  a  photograph. 

The  "common  tools"  are  arranged  on  racks  or  screens  as 
seen  in  the  engraving.  Connected  with  the  benches  there  are 
seventy-two  tool-drawers  in  which  the  "  individual "  tools  and 
the  students'  caps,  aprons,  blouses,  soap  and  towels,  etc.,  are 
locked.  The  keys  for  each  division,  twenty-four  in  number,  are 
hung  on  a  "  key-board  "  which,  when  the  division  is  not  in  the 
shop,  is  kept  in  the  instructor's  closet. 

Besides  the  above,  the  teacher  should  have  a  lathe,  a  suit- 
able kit  of  tools,  and  a  bench  so  placed  as  to  be  in  full  and 
convenient  view  of  his  division  when  arranged  in  double  row 
around  him  to  witness  a  practical  exercise  or  hear  an  illustrated 
lecture. 

Across  the  ceiling  run  the  main  shaft  and  the  counter-shafts 
of  the  lathes,  from  which  hang  the  belts  and  belt-shifters. 
Two  grindstones  are  needed,  and  these  should  be  kept  in 
motion  during  shop  hours.  By  a  clutch  or  tightener,  the 
teacher  should  be  able  to  stop  and  start  his  main  shaft  at 
will. 

The  first  part  of  the  year  is  given  to  bench  work,  or  the 
ELEMENTS  OF  JOINERY. 

During  his  two  hours'  stay  in  the  shop,  each  boy  has  the 
exclusive  control  of  a  work  bench  with  a  reasonably  full  set  of 
tools.  The  bench  is  equipped  with  an  iron  vise  with  three-and- 
one-half-inch  jaws.  This  vise  may  be  set  on  the  side  of  the 
bench,  or  on  the  end  away  from  the  space  used  in  planing. 


26  FIRST   TEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.  [Chap,  H. 


Chap,IL]                                THE  COST  OF  TOOLS.  27 

The  benches  themselves  should  be  very  strongly  made  and  vary 
in  height  from  thirty  to  thirty-four  inches. 

I  suggest  the  following  as  a  minimum  kit  of  "  common  "  tools 
to  be  kept  on  the  rack  of  the  bench : l  — 

KIT  OF  COMMON  TOOLS. 

One  20"  rip-saw Costing  $1.60 

"     back-saw "           1.00 

"     claw-hammer "            .40 

"     mallet "             .25 

"     small  steel  square "            .80 

"     six  inch  try  square "            .25 

"     marking  gauge     ......  "            .25 

"     T-bevel  gauge        ......  "            .25 

"     pair  compasses "            .20 

"     oil  stone "            .50 

"     oil-can "             .15 

"     screw-driver "            .20 

"     bench  brush  "             .30 


Total $6.15 

All  the  above  tools  should  be  supplied  at  the  start,  and  are 
to  be  used  in  common  by  the  three  boys  who  in  succession 
occupy  the  bench  during  the  day.  The  remaining  tools  are 
either  in  the  individual  sets  given  the  boys,  or  in  the  special, 
occasional  kit  in  the  teacher's  closet. 

An  "  individual "  set,  which  is  to  be  used  by  only  one  boy, 
to  be  kept  in  his  private  lock-drawer  when  he  is  not  in  the 
shop,  and  is  to  be  issued  as  needed,  includes :  — 

KIT  OF  INDIVIDUAL  TOOLS. 

One  20"  panel  cross-cut  saw        ....  Costing  $.80 

"     jack  plane "           .60 

"     smoothing  plane "           .50 

Four  chisels :  |",  £",  f",  1"          ....  "            .90 

Three  gouges  :  i",  i",  1" .70 

1  My  estimates  of  cost  in  these  several  lists  of  tools  are  based  on  the  prices 
given  me  by  the  Simmons  Hardware  Company  of  St.  Louis,  which  has  furnished 
us  with  the  greater  part  of  our  tools. 


28        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Ohap.IL 

Two  turning  gouges  :  |",  f  ....  Costing  $.55 

"  turning  chisels :  f ",  f"  "  .45 

One  parting  tool "  .40 

"  round-nose  tool "  .40 

"  pair  5"  calipers "  .25 

"  two-foot  rule "  .15 

"  oil-stone  slip "  .15 

Total    ........  $5.85 

The  speed  lathe  has  about  8"  swing  and  is  furnished  with  : 
a  face-plate,  a  removable  screw-center,  a  spur-center,  and  a  nine- 
inch  rest. 

OCCASIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  TOOLS. 

These  are  kept  under  the  personal  charge  of  the  instructor, 
to  be  given  out  for  special  work.  They  are :  — 

One  large  steel  square Costing  $1.25 

"    24"  cross-cut  saw "  1.35 

«    24"  rip-saw "  1.60 

Two  jointer-planes,  22"  long       ....  "  2.20 

"    fore-planes,  18"  long "  1.60 

"    bit-braces "  2.50 

"    sets  bits,  counter-sinks  and  screw  driver      .  "  8.20 

One  hatchet "  .60 

Two  nail  sets "  .30 

Two  £"  screw  taps  and  dies  for  wood          .         .  "  1.60 

One  draw-shave "  .90 

One  spoke-shave "  .40 

Two  monkey  wrenches "  1.00 

One  compass  saw "  .35 

"    full  set  of  12  wood-carving  tools  with  handles  "  4.75 

"    glue-pot  complete  with  lamp  or  steam  connection     "  1.50 

Total $30.10 

A  small  supply  of  shellac,  staining  material,  and  varnish 
should  always  be  on  hand,  as  well  as  sand  paper  and  machinist's 
waste.  Other  tools  and  appliances  may  be  added  as  their  use 
is  seen  to  be  necessary. 

The  cost  of  the  entire  outfit  of  the  shop  (excluding  power) 
for  72  boys  may  now  be  given  approximately  as  follows :  — 


Chap,  II,]  THE  COST  OF  SHOP   APPLIANCES.  29 

Twenty-five  benches  @  $15 $375.00 

Twenty-five  sets  "common"  tools  @  $ 6. 15       .         .         .  153.75 

Seventy-three  sets  "  Individual  "  tools  @  $5.85          .        .  427.05 

Set  of  Special  and  occasional  tools 30.10 

Twenty-five  coach-maker's  vises  @  $5.00  ....  125.00 

Twenty-four  speed  lathes  @  $25.00 600.00 

Shafting,  pulleys,  belts,  etc 150.00 

Grindstones,  with  attachments 40.00 

Wash  trough,  dishes,  plumbing,  etc.,  say  ....  80.00 

Total $1,980.90 

If  turning  and  all  power  attachments  are  omitted  and  only 
joinery  is  taught,  the  cost  is  about  $1,000. 

If  twenty-four  sets  of  special  wood-carving  tools  are  added, 
the  cost  will  be  increased  about  §114. 

These  tools  will  if  well  looked  after  last  many  years.  It  will 
have  a  wholesome  effect  if  the  rule,  requiring  tools  carelessly 
broken  or  lost  to  be  replaced  by  the  responsible  parties,  is 
strictly  and  impartially  enforced. 

It  thus  appears  that  the  special  shop  outfit  costs  from  §23  to 
$29  per  boy. 

The  cost  of  the  engine  is  omitted,  as  it  is  counted  into  the 
expense  of  the  Machine  Shop. 

The  tools  should  all  be  of  good  quality  and  the  best  patterns. 

The  Lumber  Room  is  an  important  adjunct  to  the  wood-work- 
ing shop.  The  lumber  should  be  brought  out  in  convenient 
shapes  (5-inch  boards  and  2-inch  planks,  2nd  or  3rd  quality; 
square  strips  of  hard  wood,  two  or  three  inches  square  ;  etc.)  and 
piled  so  as  to  be  readily  handled.  For  the  purpose  of  getting 
out  the  stock,  a  band-saw  and  table  is  quite  necessary.  I 
prefer  the  band-saw  to  the  circular  for  three  reasons :  —  It  is 
safer  ;  it  is  less  noisy ;  it  cuts  faster.  I  insert  a  cut  (Fig.  9)  of 
the  band-saw  we  use,  the  price  of  which  is  made  $100  by  the 
makers,  Hall  &  Brown,  St.  Louis. 

No  wood-planing  machine  is  necessary.  Either  the  lumber 
comes  planed  or  the  pupils  should  plane  their  own. 

It  wastes  a  great  deal  of  time  to  have  the  pupils  of  a  class 
get  out  their  own  stock ;  it  is  far  better  to  have  the  janitor  or 
the  teacher  get  it  all  out  beforehand. 


30        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  H 


The  lumber  should  be  bought  in  time  to  allow  it  to  thor- 
oughly season  before  it  is  used.  Some  fitting  may  be  done  with 
green  lumber  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  much  it  shrinks 
and  the  necessity  of  providing  for  the  shrinkage. 

THE  METHOD   OF   SHOP   INSTRUCTION. 

While  I  am  desirous  of  making  a  full  statement  of  our 
method  of  shop-work,  it  is  evident  that  I  cannot  furnish  that 
real  knowledge  which  the  teacher  must  have.  I  can  however 
greatly  assist  one  who  has  had  some  experience  with  tools  and 
who  has  attempted  or  is  to  attempt  systematic  class-work. 
From  the  first  this  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  :  that  the  object  of 
shop-and-tool  instruction  is  chiefly 
mental  discipline.  The  tools  are  to 
be  intelligently  used,  and  the  methods 
of  execution  adopted  are  to  be  chosen 
intelligently.  Least  of  all  do  we  care 
for  the  concrete  product  except  as  it 
bears  witness  to  progress. 

Neither  good  tools  nor  established 
methods  are  what  they  are  from  mere 
chance  or  caprice.  They  are  the 
result  of  growth  and  logical  develop- 
ment, and  that  both  the  tool  and  the 
method  may  be  fully  understood,  both 
are  to  be  fully  explained  and  taught. 

Cases  are  very  rare  wherein  pupils  may  be  left  to  find  out 
the  methods  or  the  right  tools  for  themselves.  In  general, 
they  should  be  taught  the  right  way  from  the  start,  tho  preva- 
lent incorrect  methods  may  be  pointed  out  as  illustrations  of 
"  How  not  to  do  it."  Clumsy,  unhandy,  untidy,  unintelligent 
habits  should  not  be  allowed. 

Above  all,  the  pupil  must  do  his  work  himself;  no  other  evi- 
dence of  his  ability  to  do  it  should  be  accepted.  Occasionally, 
the  teacher  may  do  a  stroke  of  work  on  a  boy's  piece,  as  he 
would  write  a  word  for  him  in  his  copy-book,  or  draw  a  line  on 
his  projection  for  the  sake  of  showing  him  "just  how,"  at  a  time 
when  his  attention  and  interest  are  at  a  maximum;  but  the 


FIG.  9.    BAND-SAW. 


Chap.  II.]        THE  MENTAL   QUALITY  OF  SHOP- WORK.  31 

teacher  should  be  cautious  of  giving  aid.  He  should  never 
give  the  boy  any  reason  to  think  that  the  piece  is  not  his  own, 
nor  to  suspect  his  own  honesty  in  claiming  it  as  such. 

In  general,  the  teacher  should  execute  all  typical  exercises 
anew  for  each  division,  and  in  its  presence,  employing  just  the 
method  and  order  he  wishes  his  pupils  to  follow.  His  style  and 
his  piece  should  both  be  of  a  high  order  of  excellence. 

The  first  exercises  are  with  the  cross-cut  saw,  try-square,  and 
planes.  In  learning  to  use  the  saw,  soft  lumber  —  second  or 
third  quality  of  white  pine  —  about  two  inches  square  should 
be  used.  In  marking  for  the  saw,  draw  sharp,  clean  lines  with 
knife  —  don't  use  scratch  awls  —  on  two  or  three  faces  and  then 
cut  just  to  the  lines.  In  sawing  carry  the  hand  lightly  and  don't 
bend  the  saw.  Two  or  three  cuts  may  be  made  to  the  inch. 

The  importance  of  the  saw-cut,  may  be  taught  by  using  a 
piece  of  J"  stuff  say  6"  by  20,"  with  at  least  one  straight  edge 
along  which  to  apply  the  try-square. 

Draw  lines  across,  every  half-inch,  stopping  them  at  a  gauge- 
line  one  inch  from  the  straight  edge.  Then  cut  carefully  down 
the  cross-lines  to  the  gauge-line  in  such  a  way  that  when  alter- 
nate pieces  are  knocked  out  the  spaces  will  all  be  the  same,  and 
as  wide  as  the  parts  which  remain.1  The  accuracy  of  all  this  may 
be  tested  by  cutting  the  whole  piece  in  two,  and  interlocking 
the  projections.  The  test  is  severe  even  for  a  good  workman. 

Similar  exercises  may  be  given  in  sawing  obliquely  to  the 
grain  with  the  saw  which  is  best  suited  to  the  work,  laying  out 
the  work  with  either  the  try-square  or  the  T-bevel  gauge.  See 
Fig.  10  for  the  position  2  while  using  the  "  rip-saw." 

The  general  and  special  features  of  the  jack  and  the  smooth- 
ing planes  require  full  exposition  and  illustration. 

Methods  of  grinding,  oil-stoning  (see  Fig.  11),  and  setting 
planes  should  be  given  with  great  precision,  and  they  should 
be  well  illustrated  by  drawings.3 

1  One  of  the  series  of  exercises  given  below  is  based  on  this  principle. 

2  For  several  of  these  exquisitely-drawn  wood-cuts,  I  am  indebted  to  the  little 
volume,  "  How  to  use  Wood-working  Tools  "  published  by  Ginu  &  Heath  in  1881. 

3  There  are  various  kinds  of  planes  which  the  teacher  may  use  in  his  lecture 
on  planes.    The  Bailey  patent  adjustable  plane  is  a  great  favorite  with  some, 
while  others  prefer  the  old-fashioned  wooden  plane. 


32        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL,     [chap,  ft 

When  lumber  is  rough  and  more  or  less  irregular,  the  plane 
is  an  indispensable  tool,  and  the  workman  must  know  his 
tools.  The  operation  of  reducing  a  rough  piece  approximately 


FIG.  10.    USING  THE  RIP-SAW  ON  A  BOAUD. 


2"x2"  and  a  foot  long  to  a  smooth  1-|"  square,  is  not  an  easy 
one,  and  most  students  fail  at  first.  Some  succeed  only  after 
many  failures,  and  some  never  succeed.  The  method  of  holding 
the  plane  for  the  first  part  of  a  stroke  is  shown  in  Fig.  12.  The 
left  hand  keeps  the  toe  of  the  plane  down. 


Chap, 


SAVING  A    SPOILT  PIECE. 


33 


When  a  boy  has  spoilt  his  piece,  i.e.  taken  off  so  much  stock 
that  a  piece  If"  square  is  no  longer  possible,  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
change  the  dimension  to  1J"  and  let  him  try  again.  Similarly, 
reduce  to  li",  to  1",  and  even  less  after  further  failures.  I 
have  seen  boys,  who,  like  the  monkey  judge  in  the  fable,  inevita- 


FIG.  11.    SHARPENING  THE  PLANE-IRON. 


bly  tk  took  off  too  much  from  the  other  end  "  till  there  was 
nothing  left. 

The  skillful  teacher  proceeds  with  system  and  great  caution. 
There  should  be  no  hap-hazard  work  and  the  class  is  to  be  kept 
together.  He  outlines  the  steps  for  squaring  up  a  piece  sub- 
stantially as  follows :  — 

1.  Select  the  cleanest  (freest  from  knots,  etc.)  and  most  uni- 
form face  and  plane  it  smooth  and  true.  Test  the  accuracy  of 


34        FIRST    YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  IL 

the  surface  by  the  edge  of  the  try-square.     Mark  this  face  thus  : 
X ,  with  pencil. 
2.  Select  the  most  suitable  adjacent  face  and  plane  it  square 


FIG.  12.    THE  TOE  is  PRESSED  DOWN  WITH  THE  LEFT  HAND. 

with  the  first.     Use  the  smoothing  plane,  set  fine,  and  apply  the 
try-square  f reque  n  tly . 

3.  With  the  marking  gauge  (and  the  pupils  should  be  shown 


Chap,  II.]  AVOID  ACCUMULATED  ERRORS.  35 

how  to  set  and  how  to  use  this  tool  on  a  separate  piece)  lay  off 
If"  (or  less,  as  the  case  may  be)  on  each  finished  face  from  the 
finished  edge. 

4.  In  succession,  dress  the  two  remaining  faces  down  to  the 
gauge  lines,  testing  with  the  square  as  often  as  is  necessary.  Do 
not  scratch  a  third  gauge  line  for  the  last  face,  nor  square  from 
No.  3.  The  reason  for  the  caution  in  th'e  last  remark  is  that 
if  face  No.  4  is  worked  from  No.  3,  it  is  likely  to  have  an 
"  accumulated  "  error. 

It  should  be  taken  for  granted  that  no  real  work  is  exact, 
i.e.  we  cannot  realize  the  ideal  dimensions.  What  we  call 
"accurate"  is  only  a  close  approximation.  While  we  should 
aim  at  absolute  accuracy,  we  must  never  assume  that  we  have 
reached  it ;  accordingly,  as  No.  3  is  based  upon  No.  1  or  No.  2, 
it  is  supposably  less  accurate  than  either,  and  hence  ought  not 
to  serve  as  a  base  for  No.  4.  The  teacher  should  fully  illus- 
trate this  accumulation  of  error,  which  like  a  story  or  a  snow-ball 
grows  as  it  proceeds. 

For  example,  let  each  student  be  told  to  cut  off  twelve 
pieces  of  wood  of  a  definite  length  (for  future  exercises),  using 
the  first  piece  as  the  measure  of  the  second,  the  second  as  the 
measure  of  the  third,  and  so  on  to  the  last.  Then  let  him  com- 
pare the  last  with  the  first,  and  standing  the  pieces  in  order  on 
his  bench  let  him  see  whether  they  have  been  growing  longer 
or  shorter  as  he  proceeded. 

I  am  aware  that  to  teachers  unused  to  tool  work,  and  to  the 
thoughtful  logic  of  mechanical  methods,  this  may  appear  like 
much  ado  about  trifles.  If  such  there  be,  let  me  assure  them 
that  if  they  will  take  a  single  course  of  lessons  in  a  "  Manual 
Institute  "  the  appearance  of  these  matters  will  wholly  change. 
And  again,  let  me  say  that  when  one  speaks  of  trifles,  the 
average  healthy  mind,  intent  upon  one's  duties  as  a  home-maker 
and  a  good  citizen,  looks  with  wonder  and  pity  and  perhaps 
with  contempt  upon  Browning's  "  Grammarian "  whose  life 
work  appears  to  be  a  lofty  devotion  to  trifles.1 

1 "  He  settled  Hoti's  business  —let  it  be!  — 

Properly  based  Oun  — 
Gave  us  the  doctrine  of  the  enclitic  De, 
Dead  from  the  waist  down." 


36         FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL,     [chap,  H. 

The  ability  to  saw  to  a  line  and  to  square  up  a  piece  of 
required  dimensions  prepares  the  class  to  undertake  mortise- 
and-tenon  joints.  Great  emphasis  must  be  placed  upon  correct 
methods  of  laying  out  the  work.  It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  let 
making  the  drawing  and  laying  out  the  lines  which  are  to 
be  worked  to  on  the  squared  piece  constitute  an  entire  exercise. 
The  gauge  lines  should  not  be  extended  unnecessarily  nor  should 
any  coarse  lines  be  used.  With  the  try-square  use  either  a 
sharp  pencil  or  a  pocket-knife.  Do  not  allow  a  slovenly  method 
of  laying  out,  on  the  ground  that  subsequently  the  lines  will 
be  planed  or  sand-papered  off,  and  that  when  the  finished  joint 
is  planed  down,  the  surfaces  must  be  flush.  No  such  dishonest, 
unscientific  tricks  should  be  tolerated  in  a  manual  training 
school. 

In  making  tenons  use  the  "  rip  "  and  the  "  back  "  saws,  saw- 
ing accurately  to  the  line  and  not  removing  the  saw  marks.  In 
"open"  mortise-and-tenon  joints,  like  Figs.  17  and  18,  use  the 
saws  for  all  but  the  base  of  the  mortise  where  the  chisel  is 
necessary.  Preliminary  to  mortising  comes  the  theory,  care 
and  use  of  the  chisel,  with  and  without  the  mallet. 

Each  boy  now  needs  a  "bench-hook,"  which  is  preferably 
made  of  hard  wood  and  put  together  with  screws.  It  is  made 
of  three  pieces  of  wood  and  four  screws.  This  "  hook  "  is  used 
as  a  shield  to  the  bench  in  all  exercises  where  the  tools  are 
likely  to  strike  the  support ;  and  where  the  vise  is  not  needed. 
It  is  held  as  shown  in  Fig.  13.  The  screw  holes  in  the  cross- 
pieces  should  be  made  with  the  bit  to  prevent  splitting. 

The  construction  of  the  hook  is  seen  to  cover  several  impor- 
tant points. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  special  exercises  are  neces- 
sary for  showing  how  narrow  and  wide  chisels  may  be  used  in 
paring,  smoothing,  and  excavating.  In  mortising,  the  aim 
should  be  square  corners  and  good  surfaces  even  for  parts 
entirely  hidden  in  the  closed  joint.  As  bits  and  augers  are 
used  or  may  be  used  to  advantage  in  mortising,  their  use  should 
be  taught  in  preliminary  exercises. 

A  fair  proportion  of  hard  woods  —  ash,  maple,  beech,  chest- 
nut, walnut,  and  oak  —  should  always  be  used  in  these  bench 


Chap.  H.]       THE   THEORY  OF  TOOLS  AND  MATERIALS. 


37 


exercises,  and  a  certain  number  of  exercises  should  be  given 
in  working  obliquely  to  the  grain. 


FIG.  13.    SHOWING  THE  USB  OF  THE  BENCH-HOOK. 

The  operations  of  gluing  should  be  well  taught.     Occasionally 
a  joint  may  be  glued,  tho  as  a  rule  it  should  be  left  unfas- 


38        FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL,     [chap.  II. 

tened  so  that  it  may  be  inspected  more  thoroughly.  In  building 
up  composite  work,  use  different  colors,  or  aim  at  effects  by 
contrast  of  grain. 

Here  the  jointer-planes  come  in  use  for  the  last  touches  of  a 
joint. 

A  fore-plane  serves  the  same  purpose,  though  it  differs  less 
from  the  short  smoothing-plane. 

THE   SHOP   DRAWINGS. 

The  teacher  should  have  a  generous  blackboard  in  his  shop 
on  which  to  make  and  sometimes  to  preserve  important  draw- 
ings. The  drawings  should  always  be  made  with  care,  and 
generally  they  should  be  of  large  size.  The  style  of  the  teach- 
er's work  has  great  influence  upon  the  pupils. 

Every  boy  should  have  a  blank  book  for  his  shop  drawings, 
which  he  should  leave  in  his  locked  drawer  at  the  close  of  his 
work.  Into  this  book  should  be  copied  in  succession  all  the 
working  drawings  placed  by  the  teacher  on  the  blackboard,  or 
on  large  sheets  of  paper  and  hung  before  the  class. 

The  drawings  should  be  made  with  care,  of  ample  size  (the 
tendency  of  boys  is  to  make  them  too  small),  and  generally 
with  the  use  of  a  straight  edge.  It  is  not  strictly  necessary 
that  they  should  be  made  to  scale,  for  the  "  figured  "  dimensions 
should  always  be  given  in  full.  No  boy  should  be  allowed  to 
begin  his  piece,  till  his  drawing  has  been  examined  and  approved 
by  the  teacher. 

WOODWORKING   EXERCISES. 

I  give  below  the  main  features  of  our  exercises.  The  minor 
features  which  are  always  more  numerous  cannot  be  shown. 
These  latter  are  connected  with  the  theory  of  the  tools,  or  are 
preliminary  to  the  regular  course.  With  very  young  pupils 
they  should  be  far  more  numerous  than  with  mature  students. 
An  average  of  one  new  exercise  in  three  lessons  is  enough  for 
boys  fifteen  years  old. 

No.  1.  Use  of  jack  plane  and  try-square.  To  "square 
up  "  a  piece  from  rough  stock. 

No.  2.  (Fig.  14.)  Use  of  cross-cut  saw.  Stock,  common 
pine  board  14"  long,  4"  or  5"  wide.  Lay  out  and  saw  as 


Chap;]*]        SERIES   OF   WOOD-WORKING   EXERCISES. 


39 


shown  by  full  lines.  Split  out  with  a  chisel  the  pieces  which 
are  in  part  bounded  by  dotted  lines.  Cut  across  the  middle 
and  then  interlock  the  parts. 


FIG.  14. 

No.  3.  (Fig.  15.)  Rip  and  cross-cut  sawing.  Stock,  plain 
board.  Lay  out  and  saw  to  full  lines,  trying  both  saws  so  as  to 
determine  which  is  the  best  for  each  angle  to  the  grain.  Use 
either  the  vise  or  the  trestle  in  supporting  the  piece,  in  order 
to  see  which  is  the  more  convenient.  Examine  and  criticise 
every  cut. 


FIG.  15. 


No.   4.     (Fig.  16.)      (a)     Half  -  and  -  half     closed    joint. 


(6)    Half-and-half    open    joint. 

stock  may  be  any  two  squared 
up  pieces  of  equal  size.  Exe- 
cute and  hand  in  #,  5,  and  tf, 
separately.  Take  notice :  In 
giving  this  and  subsequent  ex- 
ercises, the  teacher  -should 
"  figure  "  his  drawings,  and  the 
pupils  should  copy  the  same 


(c)    Miter  joint.       The 


FIG.  16. 


40        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Ohap,  U, 

carefully  in  their  books.     See  directions  for  making  shop  draw- 
ings on  page  38. 

No.  5.     (Fig.  17.)     An    open     mortise-and-tenon    joint. 
The  stock  may  be  of  any  convenient  size.     Saw  to  the  lines 


FIG.  17. 


if  possible.     Do  not  bruise  or  mar  the  corners.     Do  not  plane 
off  the  finished  work  to  remove  evidence  of  inaccuracy. 


FIG.  18. 


JVo.  6.  (Fig.  18.)  An  open,  double  mortise-and-tenon 
joint.  Stock  of  any  convenient  size.  Observe  directions 
already  given.  Lay  out  with  care,  and  saw  just  to  the  lines. 


Chap,  EC,] 


BENCH  EXERCISES. 


41 


This  is  a  difficult  exercise,  and  partial  failure  should  not  dis- 
courage. One  may  fail  in  No.  6,  who  has  succeeded  well  in 
No.  5. 


Fio.  19. 

No.  7.    (Fig.  19.)    (1)    Single  mortise-and-tenon   closed 
joint.      (2)    Double    mortise-and-tenon     closed     joint. 


Fio.  20. 


Execute  the   joints   separately.     Cut  the  single  tenon  wholly 
with  the  saws,  if  possible.     Several  preliminary  exercises  may 


42        FIRST   TEAR   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL,     [chap,  IL 

be  necessary  to  the  cutting  of  the  mortises  with  clean,  sharp 
corners.  Do  not  aim  to  remove  all  the  gauge  marks  on  the 
finished  work.  Do  not  glue  or  pin  the  pieces  together. 

No.  8.  (Fig.  20.)  (a)  Long  and  short  mortises.  (6) 
Sawing  out  tenons.  Execute  a  first.  Then  cut  to  the  long 
tenon  lines  with  a  rip-saw;  then  rip  into  three  pieces,  and 
finish  the  tenons  with  the  back-saw.  Do  not  be  discouraged 
if  this  require  several  repetitions.  Some  of  the  dimensions 
have  been  omitted  as  variable  in  different  pieces.  The  chief 
thing  is,  that  each  mortise  has  its  tenon,  which  runs  far  through. 


FIG.  21. 


No.  9.  (Fig.  21.)  A  miter  joint  with  an  open,  double 
mortise-and-tenon.  Stock,  1J"  by  2"  or  3",  and  of  any 
convenient  length,  using  both  ends,  and  not  sawing  in  two  till 
the  tenons  are  made.  The  teacher  may  use  either  isometric  or 
ordinary  orthographic  drawings,  as  may  appear  best. 

No.  1O.  (Fig.  22.)  A  half-dovetailed  joint  halved 
together.  Stock  of  any  convenient  size.  Cut  the  mortise 
first,  and  finish  the  dovetail  of  the  tenon  with  a  sharp,  wide 
chisel,  to  an  exact  fit. 

No.  11.  (Fig.  23.)  A  dovetailed  joint  with  a  single 
tongue.  The  nature  of  the  exercise  is  clearly  shown  in  the 
drawing.  Use  large  stock,  so  that  the  dimensions  may  be  dis- 


Chap,  IL] 


BENCH  EXERCISES. 


43 


tinetly  given.     Do  not  plane  off  the  finished  joint.     Preserve 
sharp  corners  on  the  mortise. 


FIG.  22. 


FIG.  23. 


No.  12.  (Fig.  24.)  An  oblique  mortise-and-tenon  joint 
with  a  pin.  The  obliquity  shown  in  the  drawing  is  a  little 
less  than  30°.  Do  not  attempt  to  draw  the  tenon  home  by  the 
pin ;  bore  the  hole  through  both  pieces  at  once.  Leave  the  pin 


44        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL,     [chap,  H 

projecting,  so  that  it  may  be  drawn  out.     Extraordinary  care 
should  be  taken  in  laying  out  this  exercise. 


FIG.  24. 


No.  23.  (Fig.  25.)  A  half-dovetailed  mortise-and-tenon 
joint,  with  a  key.  This  exercise  is  sufficiently  shown  by  the 
drawing. 


FIG.  25. 

No.  14.  (Fig.  26.)  (a)  A  beveled  corner-piece  of  a 
frame,  with  a  blind  mortise  for  a  half-dovetailed  tenon. 
(V)  The  dovetailed  tenon  and  key  for  the  mortise. 

This  is  a  difficult  exercise,  and  some  "  fitting "  is  allowable  in 
finishing  the  tenon  and  the  key.     The  key  should  be  left  long 


Chap.  II.] 


BENCH  EXERCISES. 


45 


enough  to  permit  unlocking  the  joint,  tho  in  a  real  example  it 
would  be  cut  off,  and  the  joint  would  be  glued  as  well  as  locked. 


FIG.  25. 


FIG.  27. 


No.  15.    (Fig.  27.}    A  half-blind  dowel  joint.     The  dowel 
pins  may  be  made  of  hard  wood.     The  bit-holes  should  be  made 


46        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL.    [Chap,  n 

in  both  pieces  at  once,  while  the  short  piece  is  wholly  in  the 
vise.     The  entire  joint  should  be  glued. 

No.  16.    (Fig.  28.)    Triangle.     No.  17.    (Fig.  29.)    Hexagon. 
Frames  with  miter  angles  of  various  sizes.     The  teacher 


FIG.  28 


should  show  how  to  lay  out  angles  of  30°  and  60°,  using  the 
try-square  and  compass.     Do  not  use  very  small  stock.     Nail 


FIG.  29. 


or  dowel  or  screw  the  joints.     No.  17  might  be  made  with  open 
mortise-and-tenon  joints  and  pins. 


Chap, 


BENCH  EXERCISES. 


47 


No.  18.  (Fig.  30.)  A  rafter  joint.  Use  stock  say  3"  by  4" 
and  about  a  foot  long.  The  teacher  may  add  a  pin  running 
down  through  both  pieces,  which  would  represent  a  bolt  with 
head  and  nut. 


FIG.  30. 

No.  19.  (Figs.  31  and  32.) 
A  dovetail  joint  with 
several  tongues.  This 
exercise  requires  precision 
and  a  clear  head.  The 
work  must  be  laid  out  very 
systematically,  and  be  exe- 
cuted with  patient  care. 
There  can  be  no  objection 
to  gluing  the  pieces  together 


FIG.  32. 


48        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap.  II 

when  finished.  Fig.  32  shows  best  the  nature  of  the  joint, 
but  Fig.  31  gives  a  drawing  to  be  actually  used  in  laying  out 
such  work.  The  pupil  will  see  that  Fig.  31  and  Fig.  32  do  not 
represent  precisely  the  same  pieces. 


FIG.  33. 


FIG.  34. 

No.  2O.  (Figs.  33  and  34.)  A  dovetail  joint  with  a  miter. 
This  is  equally  hard  with  the  last.  In  place  of  a  third  ortho- 
graphic projection  of  each  piece,  I  have  given  a  perspective 
view  which  at  once  makes  it  all  clear.  The  finished  joint  may 
be  glued. 


Chap,  H]  BENCH  EXERCISES.  49 

No.  21.     (Fig.  35.)      A    false    double-dovetailed    joint. 

This  very  interesting  exercise  is  difficult  from  the  necessity  of 
sawing  very  obliquely  to  the  grain  for  the  sides  of  the  mortise. 
The  exact  dimensions  of  the  tenon  are  either  given  directly,  or 
they  may  be  found  on  the  drawing  of  the  mortise.  When  well 
executed  and  snugly  put  together,  the  combination  appears  to 
represent  an  impossibility.  The  double-dovetail  appearance 
forms  a  puzzle  which  never  fails  to  interest. 


FIG.  35. 

No.  22.  A  bench  project.  This  may  be  a  complete  box 
or  chest  with  butts  and  lock,  a  table,  a  model  of  a  roof-truss,  a 
step-ladder,  or  any  other  article  which  will  not  absorb  too  much 
time,  and  which  shall  call  into  play  the  processes  learned.  The 
chest  should  be  made  as  a  box  completely  closed,  and  then  be 
sawed  open. 

The  operations  of  nailing  (using  different  sizes),  clinching, 
withdrawing  nails,  screwing,  pinning,  wedging,  splicing,  keying, 
etc.,  should  be  taught  by  appropriate  exercises. 

SUGGESTIONS. 

It  will  be  found  an  excellent  plan  to  give  all  the  boys  permis- 
sion occasionally  to  make  what  they  like,  and  to  carry  away  the 
products.  In  such  cases  each  should  submit  a  scale  drawing 
(figured)  of  his  proposed  article,  and  should  furnish  the  mate- 
rial for  the  same.  The  teacher  however  should  endorse  no 
loose  plan,  nor  permit  attempts  on  too  complicated  work.  And 
here  let  me  caution  both  teachers  and  pupils  against  ambitious 


50        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING    SCHOOL.     [Chap,  U. 

undertakings.  There  is  a  very  homely,  but  strikingly  appro- 
priate, proverb  which  may  occur  to  the  reader,  and  which  I  for- 
bear to  quote,  but  it  warns  against  undertaking  more  than  one 
can  execute.  Heed  its  warning.  No  "extra"  or  "project" 
should  be  adopted,  which  has  not  been  looked  through  in 
every  detail,  and  for  which  there  is  not  at  command  not  only 
all  the  necessary  materials,  but  all  the  time  that  may  be 
needed. 

For  framing,  stock  not  less  than  two  inches  square  should 
be  used,  and  such  a  design  should  be  used  as  will  show  the  dif- 
ference in  principle  and  in  construction  between  struts  and 
ties. 

The  propriety  of  using  iron  ties  with  washers  and  nuts 
may  very  appropriately  be  pointed  out,  tho  the  class  is  too 
young  to  appreciate  such  combinations  very  fully. 

One  of  the  first  difficulties  the  teacher  of  wood-work  will 
encounter  is  that  of  unequal  capacity  in  the  execution  of  work. 
Aside  from  differences  of  effort,  attention,  and  application,  there 
will  be  a  marked  difference  in  ability.  This  difference  will  be 
greatest  at  the  start,  so  that  the  teacher  may  comfort  himself 
with  the  thought  that  the  evil  will  become  less  and  less  as  his 
class  progresses. 

This  is  perhaps  just  the  opposite  of  what  the  inexperienced 
teacher  would  expect.  The  explanation  is,  that  the  natural 
aptitudes  of  the  pupils  do  not  vary  as  widely  as  their  antece- 
dent opportunities  for  tool-work  have  varied.  If  a  boy  has  used 
tools  of  any  kind,  be  they  oars  or  bats  or  hoes  or  axes  or  knives 
or  trowels  or  rackets,  he  will  take  hold  handily,  tho  it  is  by 
no  means  certain  that  in  a  month  he  will  not  be  inferior  to 
one  who  at  the  start  was  awkwardness  itself.1 

The  range  of  acceptability  in  the  exercises  will  for  the  most 
part  meet  the  difficulty.  Suppose  the  time  allowed  for  an  exer- 

1  I  have  learned  to  thoroughly  distrust  the  new  comer  who  brings  a  reputation 
for  mechanical  skill  coupled  with  dullness  at  his  books.  As  a  rule,  such  a  boy  fails 
to  show  marked  ability  of  any  sort.  A  boy  who  came  to  us  with  a  passion  for 
machinery —  who  "  could  not  be  kept  away  from  engines,"  the  rattle  of  cogs,  and 
the  snapping  of  belts  —  never  got  beyond  a  sort  of  morbid,  simple  curiosity  to 
"  see  the  wheels  go  round!"  He  developed  no  ingenuity,  nor  the  ability  to  do 
good  accurate  work.  His  book-work  was  of  a  very  similar  character. 


Chap.  II,]  KEEPING   A    CLASS    TOGETHER.  51 

cise  is  two  hours.  The  most  rapid  and  expert  need  less  time, 
and  the  very  slowest  are  likely  to  bring  in  unfinished  pieces ; 
but  if  reasonable  effort  has  been  made,  the  teacher  is  bound  to 
accept  the  result,  and  rate  it  at  just  what  it  is  worth.  No  boy 
fit  to  be  in  the  class  can  fail  to  do  sixty  per  cent  of  the  work 
required,  if  he  tries.  If  he  does  not  try,  it  is  a  matter  of  morals, 
and  should  be  treated  as  such,  not  as  a  mechanical  failure. 
With  honest  effort,  the  slowest  boy  keeps  up  as  well  in  the 
shop,  as  the  slowest  boy  does  in  elocution,  or  penmanship,  or 
in  algebra.  For  very  rapid  boys  who  have  time  for  extra 
work,  the  teacher  should  always  have  in  reserve  some  supple- 
mentary exercises  based  on  those  already  given  which  the  boys 
should  be  allowed  to  execute,  retaining  the  work  when  finished 
if  they  desire  it.  All  the  regular  class  products  should  be 
retained  by  the  teacher  for  such  future  uses  as  the  interest  of 
the  school  suggests.  They  will  often  serve  as  the  stock  for 
other  exercises. 

When  a  boy  actually  spoils  a  piece,  the  teacher  must  decide 
on  the  spot  whether  he  shall  take  a  new  "blank"  and  start 
anew,  or  adopt  a  modified  design. 

A  difficult  exercise  may  very  properly  be  given  twice.  If 
the  first  exercises  are  duly  criticised,  and  the  prevailing  failures 
are  clearly  pointed  out  to  the  division  as  a  whole,  the  second 
attempts  will  far  outweigh  the  first.  If  necessary,  the  teacher 
should  re-execute  the  difficult  points  with  the  division  looking 
on  a  second  time. 

In  the  list  of  exercises  already  given,  I  have  included  a  suffi- 
cient number  and  variety  for  the  school  course.  I  claim  for 
them  no  special  excellence.  They  are  tolerably  logical,  and 
show  a  decided  tendency  towards  forms  approved  by  best  usage. 
No  live  teacher  will  follow  them  servilely  nor  will  he  be  disposed 
to  use  precisely  the  same  series  twice.1 

Much  depends  on  the  quality  and  dimensions  of  available 
lumber.  After  a  little  experience  in  teaching,  it  will  be  easy  to 
decide  where  to  introduce  modifications.  The  teacher  should 
not  hesitate  to  adopt  dimensions  which  will  suit  his  lumber 

1  One  of  iny  teachers  has  taught  wood-work  for  eight  years,  and  he  has  never 
failed  to  introduce  slight  changes  which  he  regards  as  improvements. 


52        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  IL 

where  mine  fail  to  do  so.  Where  I  have  given  no  dimensions, 
it  is  obvious  that  the  teacher  must  assume  them.  In  no  case 
should  the  teacher  fail  to  give  all,  necessary  dimensions. 

CRITICISING   AND   MARKING   THE   SHOP-WORK. 

In  my  judgment  the  mark  given  a  piece  of  work  should  take 
no  account  of  the  personality  of  the  boy  beyond  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  grade  of  the  class.  In  other  words  the  stand- 
ard should  be  an  absolute  one  for  that  grade.  By  reference  to 
the  grade,  I  mean  that  "  perfection  "  signifies  only  "  reasonable 
perfection,"  taking  into  account  the  age  of  the  pupils,  the 
amount  of  instruction  they  have  received,  the  time  allowed,  and 
the  quality  of  the  lumber  used.  I  should  expect  much  more 
from  a  class  of  college  Freshmen  who  averaged  eighteen  years 
of  age,  than  from  the  youngest  class  in  a  manual  training  school 
who  were  only  fifteen  years  old. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  giving  a  boy  a  quarterly  or  hali>,quar- 
terly  mark  in  shop-work,  I  should  admit  the  lad's  personality 
to  a  certain  extent.  For  instance,  I  would  mark  him  first  with- 
out looking  at  his  work ;  on  his  apparent  comprehension  of  the 
exercises,  as  indicated  by  his  written  or  oral  answers  to  my 
questions ; *  on  his  drawings ;  on  his  care  of  his  tools  and 
bench;  on  the  fidelity  with  which  he  followed  instructions. 
Then  I  should  consider  this  personal  mark  as  of  equal  weight 
with  the  one  derived  from  an  examination  of  his  finished  work. 

In  marking  a  piece,  say  Fig.  17, 1  should  take  into  account :  — 

1.  The  accuracy  and  finish  with  which  the  stock  was  squared 

up  to  the  prescribed  dimensions 20 

2.  The  style  and  correctness  of  the  laying  out 30 

3.  The  character  of  the  sawing 15 

4.  The  chisel  work 15 

5.  The  care  of  the  finished  surfaces  (freedom  from  injury 

from  the  vise  or  accidental  blows) 10 

6.  The  time  spent 10 

100 


i  Occasional  written  examinations  are  very  desirable  in  the  interest  of  correct 
vocabulary,  precision  of  statement,  and  attention  of  details. 


Chap.  IL]  MARKING   SHOP -WORK.  53 

The  laying  out  of  complicated  work  should  always  be  marked 
high.  It  is  very  desirable  that  the  students  know  beforehand 
the  system  of  marking,  and  just  where  their  own  shortcomings 
lie.  Cultivate  self-criticism  by  requiring  of  them  that  they 
mark  their  own  work  according  to  your  analysis,  comparing 
their  pieces  with  yours,  i.e.,  supposing  that  yours  is  nearly 
perfect,  as  it  always  should  be.  Of  course  the  teacher  should 
revise  all  such  preliminary  estimates  of  the  young  workmen  on 
themselves. 

APRONS,   CAPS,    BLOUSES,   OVERALLS,   TOWELS,   ETC. 

The  pupils  of  a  class  should  have  aprons  of  a  uniform  style, 
coming  well  up  to  the  chin,  and  descending  to  the  knees  ;  a 
light  cap  with  a  stiff  visor  (to  protect  the  eyes  from  light  and 
from  flying  chips)  ;  a  towel  (which  should  be  changed  once  a 
week) ;  and  a  cake  of  soap.  All  these  when  not  in  use  should 
be  kept  in  the  student's  drawer  with  his  edge-tools.  Blouses 
and  overalls  will  not  be  necessary  till  wood-turning  is  taken  up ; 
they  are  then  necessary  to  protect  one's  clothes  from  the  fine 
chips  which  fly  from  the  lathe. 

The  drawer  keys  used  by  the  members  of  a  division  should 
be  hung  together  on  a  key-board  bearing  the  number  of  that 
division.  The  three  key-boards  should  be  kept  by  the  teacher 
in  his  private  closet,  to  be  brought  out  in  succession  as  the 
divisions  appear.  The  presence  of  a  key  on  the  board  after 
the  division  has  been  sent  to  the  benches  indicates  the  absence  of 
a  student.  The  keys  should  have  tags  numbered  to  correspond 
with  the  numbers  on  the  drawers. 

Pupils  should  be  warned  against  dangerous  methods  of  hold- 
ing and  using  tools.  The  teacher  soon  learns  what  accidents 
are  likely  to  happen,  and  he  should  warn  accordingly.  Under 
careful  supervision,  shop  accidents  are  very  few  indeed. 

Pupils  should  be  warned  not  to  slide  the  vise  jaw  unless  the 
lever  be  thrown  fully  back,  thus  avoiding  excessive  wear. 

All  one's  edge-tools  should  be  kept  in  perfect  order,  and  the 
teacher  should  attend  to  the  saws  as  often  as  necessary. 

Every  boy  should  leave  his  bench  perfectly  clean,  every  tool 
in  its  place,  and  his  private  drawer  in  order.  His  shop  duties 


54        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  IL 

end  after  washing  up,  and  locking  his  drawer,  with  the  restora- 
tion of  his  key  to  the  board,  and  with  taking  his  place  in  the 
line  for  filing  out  of  the  room. 

I  have  never  found  it  necessary  or  desirable  to  give  unsatis- 
factory students  extra  hours  in  the  shop.  A  boy  who  under 
our  regulations  either  can  not,  or  will  not,  make  fair  progress  is 
not  worth  the  extra  investment  involved  in  extra  hours  ;  in 
either  case  I  should  try  to  get  him  out  of  the  class. 

While  boys  are  at  work  in  a  shop  I  would  allow  no  whistling 
nor  playing  nor  idling.  There  is  no  objection  to  such  conversa- 
tion as  may  be  necessary  to  the  prosecution  of  their  work.  The 
essential  thing  is  to  keep  the  boys'  minds  on  their  work,  and 
to  rigidly  exclude  distracting  influences. 

The  teacher  should  generally  not  be  at  work  at  his  bench 
while  the  boys  are  engaged  at  theirs,  but  he  should  hold  himself 
ready  to  answer  a  signal  for  assistance  or  advice,  and  to  check 
and  correct  those  whom  he  sees  going  wrong.  The  division 
should  move  on  the  stroke  of  a  bell,  promptly  and  quietly. 

WOOD-TURNING. 

I  assume  that  the  school  is  equipped  with  twenty-four  speed- 
lathes  driven  by  an  engine.  A  boy  of  fourteen  years  can  not 
with  profit  work  long  at  a  foot-lathe,  without  rest.  Motive 
power  is  now  so  cheap  and  easily  managed  that  no  considerable 
supply  of  lathes  should  be  put  in  without  power.1 

The  construction  and  care  of  the  lathe  should  be  fully  ex- 
plained. A  picture  of  our  speed-lathe  made  by  Messrs.  Hall 
&  Brown  of  St.  Louis  is  shown  as  Fig.  36.  Here  the  pupil 
learns,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  the  importance  of  keeping  the 
lathe  bearings  in  order  and  well  oiled.  The  heating  of  a 
journal  is  never  without  cause,  and  should  never  be  disregarded. 
The  monkey-wrenches  should  be  suited  to  the  nuts  on  the 
lathes.  The  belt-shifters  should  be  convenient  and  effective, 
and  it  should  be  made  a  second  nature  with  a  boy,  to  throw 
off  the  belt  (shut  off  the  lathe)  at  the  slightest  accident,  or  at 

1  For  several  years  before  the  organization  of  the  Manual  Training  School,  the 
University  boys  used  foot-lathes  and  hand-forges.  In  wood-work  two  students 
were  put  to  one  lathe,  one  driving  while  the  other  turned. 


Chap. 


MANAGING  A   SPEED-LATHE. 


55 


a  slowing  up  of  the  main  shaft.  While  a  boy  may  properly 
use  his  hand  to  stop  his  lathe  after  the  belt  is  off,  he  should  be 
cautioned  against  getting  his  fingers  or  his  sleeve  under  the 
belt.  When  not  actually  turning  or  marking  his  piece,  he 
should  stop  his  lathe.  Let  him  beware  getting  his  sleeve  into 
the  clutches  of  the  spur-center.  Flowing,  or  very  loose,  sleeves 
should  not  be  worn.  If  properly  shown,  boys  soon  get  the 
knack  of  shifting  the  belt  to  change  the  speed. 

The  stock  with  which  one's  wood-turning  may  begin  should 
be  about  2"  X  2"  X  8".  After  "centering"  and  placing  one 
end  on  the  spur,  bring  up  the  tail-stock,  clamp  it  in  place,  and 
then  screw  up  the  center  point  till  it  strikes  the  center  point  in 
the  wood.  Force  the  stick 
firmly  upon  the  spur. 
After  withdrawing  the  tail 
center  a  trifle,  clamp  it  and 
put  a  drop  of  oil  on  its 
point.  Before  starting  the 
lathe  put  the  tool-rest  in 
place,  its  edge  a  little 
above  the  center  line  of 
the  lathe  and  as  near  as 


I 


FIG.  36.    SPEED-LATHE. 


possible  without   touching 

the  wood.     Pull   the   belt 

by  hand,  and  see  whether  the  piece  and  the  rest  are  in  proper 

position. 

A  carpenter's  gouge  is  the  first  tool  to  be  used ;  it  is  always 
to  be  used  in  roughing  out.  Turning  tools  should  be  kept 
sharp  and  free  from  nicks,  and  the  pupil  should  early  learn  that 
he  is  to  cut  the  wood,  not  scrape  it ;  consequently  the  edge  of 
the  tool  should  be  well  raised  almost  into  tangency  with  the 
revolving  piece,  and  the  tool  should  be  slightly  inclined  away 
from  where  the  diameter  of  the  piece  is  larger,  so  as  to  avoid 
catching  in  the  grain  and  splitting  the  wood ;  that  is,  one 
should  work  from  a  larger  towards  a  smaller  diameter.  In 
roughing-ofT  corners,  cut  lengths  of  about  a  half  inch  at  a 
time,  cutting  towards  an  end  at  first  and  then  towards  the  last 
cut.  The  tool  is  to  be  held  firmly  resting  on  the  guide,  and  as 


56        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.    [Chap,  H 

it  cuts  is  to  be  slid  along  parallel  with  itself.  On  no  account 
should  the  pupil  let  the  tool  be  knocked  from  his  hand. 

When  the  piece  has  been  reduced  to  a  cylinder,  the  tool  may 
move  along  the  whole  piece  without  stopping,  taking  a  thin 
uniform  cut.  If  the  piece  has  a  cross  grain  or  knots,  the  cut 
must  be  very  thin,  and  the  tool  should  move  in  the  direction 
least  likely  to  catch  in  the  grain. 

As  soon  as  the  piece  is  well  roughed  down,  stop  the  lathe,  and 
re-adjust  the  guide-rest.  Never  adjust  the  rest  when  the  lathe  is 
in  motion.1 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  follow  out  the  full  details  of  the 
use  even  of  the  gouge.  Two  general  directions  must  cover 
the  whole  ground :  — 

1.  Cut,  not  scrape  the  wood. 

2.  Incline  the  tool,  and  work  towards  the  end  of  the  grain. 
Cut  from  the  larger  towards  the  smaller  diameter,  rolling  the 
tool  on  the  rest  if  necessary. 

Before  working  to  dimensions,  learn  to  make  every  kind  of 
surface :  cylindrical,  conical,  conoidal  (convex  and  concave), 
and  square-shouldered ;  and  to  combine  them  at  will.  QUALITY 
BEFORE  QUANTITY  is  the  order  of  perception,  and  it  should  be 
the  order  of  development  throughout  the  school. 

If  much  stock  is  to  be  taken  off,  the  carpenter's  gouge  is  the 
most  serviceable  tool.  It  carries  a  longer  cutting  edge,  and  sub- 
divides the  chips  better  than  the  turning  gouge.  Its  peculiar 
advantages  can  be  learned  only  by  trial.  The  turning  gouge  is 
the  tool  to  be  used  in  corners  from  either  the  right  or  the  left. 

The  turning  chisel  is  a  most  effective  tool,  yielding  a  very 
smooth  surface  and  enabling  one  to  work  to  sharp  angles  and 
square  corners,  but  it  is  more  liable  to  catch  on  the  grain  than 
the  gouge. 

The  teacher  must  introduce  the  several  tools  gradually,  show- 
ing the  special  uses  of  each,  the  accidents  that  are  peculiar  to 
each,  and  how  each  is  ground  and  oil-stoned. 

1  One  of  our  boys  disregarded  this  rule,  and  lost  a  finger-nail  thereby.  He 
raised  the  rest  with  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand,  and  then  pushed  it  forward  till  a 
finger  came  in  contact  with  the  swiftly  revolving  piece.  In  an  instant  the  nail 
was  gone! 


Chap.  II.]  THE  PRINCIPLES   OF    WOOD-TURNING.  57 

One  of  the  first  things  to  surprise  a  learner,  if  he  is  using 
hard  seasoned  wood,  will  be  the  easy  generation  of  heat.  In 
turning  a  mallet-head  of  dry  oak,  for  instance,  the  chisel  or  the 
gouge  may  become  so  hot  as  to  lose  its  temper.  Great  care 
must  be  taken  in  cutting  creases  for  shoulders,  or  the  chisel 
will  be  temporarily  ruined.  The  creases  should  be  cut  a  little 
at  a  time,  and  the  tool  should  be  quickly  withdrawn.  If, 
unfortunately,  the  temper  is  drawn  from  a  portion  of  the  edge, 
the  injured  part  must  be  ground  away.  The  use  of  heat 
developed  by  friction  as  a  means  of  coloring  rings  and  beads 
on  the  work  is  soon  learned.  To  save  his  tools,  the  teacher 
should  make  "Heat"  the  subject  of  a  class-lecture,  and  he 
should  call  general  attention  to  every  instance  where  a  neglect 
of  orders  has  produced  bad  results.  A  tool  may  be  seriously 
injured  by  frictional  heat  when  cutting  soft,  dry  pine. 

I  have  thus  far  assumed  that  the  grain  of  the  wood  is  par- 
allel with  the  axis  of  the  lathe.  Blocks  in  which  the  grain  is  at 
right  angles  to  the  axis  of  the  lathe  are  generally  driven  by 
center  screws  which  are  attached  to  the  face-plate  which  is  put 
on  after  the  spur-center  is  removed;  or  the  block  is  secured 
to  the  face-plate  by  short  screws.  One  of  these  methods  is 
employed  whenever  a  piece  is  to  be  wholly  supported  from  one 
end,  and  the  tail-stock  is  either  removed  or  pushed  to  the  end 
of  the  bed.  Great  care  must  be  taken  to  keep  the  edge-tool 
clear  of  the  center  and  face-plate  screws. 

In  turning  across  the  grain,  the  tool  for  obvious  reasons 
should  be  carried  very  nearly  parallel  with  the  axis,  and  the 
tool-rest  should  be  adjusted  across  the  end  or  face  of  the  piece. 

Interior  turning  should  generally  be  done  by  the  "round- 
nose  "  tool,  at  least  as  a  preliminary  tool.  In  spite  of  its  scraping 
action,  it  should  be  kept  well  ground  to  a  somewhat  shearing 
edge.  A  large  cavity  in  the  end  of  a  piece  should  be  "  cored 
out ; "  i.e.,  an  annular  channel  should  be  taken  out  by  the 
round-nose,  only  slightly  less  in  exterior  diameter  than  the  re- 
quired cavity,  and  then  the  central  part  or  core  can  be  under- 
mined and  split  out.  Experience  will  soon  teach  that  in  turning 
a  goblet  or  a  vase,  the  portion  farthest  from  the  support  is  to  be 
finished  first. 


58        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL,     [chap,  II, 


CHUCKING. 

Pieces  like  spheres  and  rings  often  require  turning  over  their 
entire  surface ;  hence  they  must  at  least  during  a  part  of  the 
work  receive  other  support  than  the  screws  and  centers  already 
named.  It  is  usual  to  fit  them  into  a  "  chuck,"  which  consists 
of  a  separate  piece  of  wood  screwed  to  the  face-plate,  and  having 
in  the  center  of  its  face  a  cavity  so  fitted  to  the  size  of  the 
article  to  be  turned  that  the  latter  requires  a  gentle  forcing  into 
it,  with  friction  sufficient  to  hold  it  securely  while  under  the 
turning  tool.  A  little  experience  will  enable  one  to  fit  a  chuck 
readily,  and  to  use  one  surprisingly  shallow.  Several  examples 
of  chucks  are  given  in  the  exercises  illustrated  below.  One 
chuck  with  a  little  refitting  will  often  serve  several  pieces. 

Sometimes  a  mandrel  is  used  to  support  and  carry  a  piece 
which  has  a  central  hole.  A  "  mandrel "  consists  of  a  cylinder 
of  wood  fitting  snugly  a  hole  in  the  piece  to  be  turned,  and 
carrying  it  with  itself  as  it  revolves  in  the  lathe.  In  replacing 
the  mandrel  in  the  lathe  after  having  removed  it  for  any  cause, 
be  careful  to  restore  it  to  its  exact  former  position.  Always 
use  soft  wood  for  a  mandrel,  and  bear  in  mind  that  a  little 
friction  is  sufficient  to  carry  a  piece  round. 

By  the  use  of  a  monkey-wrench  on  the  shaft  of  a  bit,  and 
a  small  block  fitted  against  ,the  tail-stock  spindle,  the  face  of  a 
piece  mounted  in  the  lathe  may  be  quickly  and  accurately 
bored ;  but  the  bit  should  first  be  passed  through  a  sleeve  or 
tube  which  will  allow  it  to  enter  only  to  a  certain  depth.  The 
rapidity  with  which  the  boring  is  done  renders  this  precaution 
necessary.  Or,  on  the  other  hand,  a  bit  may  be  mounted  in  the 
center  of  a  face-plate,  and  be  used  for  boring  holes  in  a  piece 
which  rests  against  the  tail-stock.  In  this  case  also  a  sleeve 
around  the  bit  should  serve  as  a  "  stop "  at  the  limiting 
depth. 

As  a  rule,  delicate  work  is  best  executed  in  hard  wood.  The 
lumber  should  always  be  well  seasoned,  and  when  finished  arti- 
cles are  to  be  preserved,  they  should  be  well  varnished.  "  Built- 
up  "  pieces  of  black  walnut,  and  light-colored  wood,  such  as 
maple,  beech,  ash,  chestnut,  or  oak,  alternating  in  thin  strips 


Chap.  H]  DRA  WINGS   FOR    WOOD-TURNING.  59 

and  firmly  glued,  serve  admirably  for  ornamental  work.     The 
contrast  of  colors  and  grains  is  very  effective. 

When  a  fair  quality  of  workmanship  has  been  attained,  the 
teacher  may  proceed  to  specify  quantity,  and  require  pieces  to 
conform  to  given  dimensions  as  shown  in  drawings.  Thus  far 
in  wood-turning,  I  have  assumed  only  free  outlines,  which  the 
teacher  may  sufficiently  show  by  free-hand  curves  on  the  black- 
board. As  soon  as  dimensions  are  used,  however,  the  pupils 
must  make  careful  scale  and  figured  drawings  in  their  books. 
As  turned  objects  are  symmetrical  with  respect  to  a  line  (the 
axis),  their  projections  (on  a  plane  parallel  to  the  axis)  are 
symmetrical  also ;  hence  it  is  customary  to  draw  but  one  half, 
unless  a  section  is  required,  in  which  case  one  half  of  the  draw- 
ing shows  an  exterior  projection,  and  the  other  half  a  section 
through  the  axis.  As  this  method  of  drawing  may  be  unfamiliar, 
I  will  insert  in  the  illustrations  to  the  turning  exercises  a  draw- 
ing of  a  goblet,  one  half  being  in  projection,  and  the  other  half 
in  section.  See  Fig.  53  on  p.  65. 

Gum-wood,  white  and  black,  is  excellent  for  turning,  as  it 
splits  with  great  difficulty,  but  it  must  be  kept  perfectly  dry. 
Fancy  woods  for  ornamental  work  are  cedar,  cherry,  rosewood, 
boxwood,  and  mahogany.  Hemlock  would  make  beautiful 
work  if  free  from  checks.  Dead  knots  should  be  carefully 
removed  by  a  hatchet  or  saw. 

There  is  great  opportunity  for  economy  of  material  in  wood- 
turning.  The  product  of  one  exercise  may  be  made  the  basis 
for  another.  See  Figs.  49  and  50,  where  one  piece  is  made  to 
serve  as  the  basis  of  several  distinct  exercises.  In  the  end 
we  shall  have  mainly  worthless  chips  and  valuable  experience. 
As  we  never  have  much  more  left,  this  should  produce  no  sense 
of  disappointment.  A  few  specimens  should  be  kept,  however, 
to  illustrate  the  series  and  to  emphasize  good  work.  A  finished 
piece  tells  a  plain  story  to  a  practised  eye,  and  when  the  story 
is  a  good  one,  it  is  exceedingly  stimulating  to  the  class  to  see 
that  it  is  duly  recognized. 

All  that  I  have  elsewhere  said  (see  p.  52)  in  regard  to  care 
of  tools,  bench,  marking,  etc.,  applies  as  well  to  one  kind  of 
wood-work  as  another.  The  following  series  of  turning  exer- 


60        FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING    SCHOOL.     [Chap,  H, 

cises  will  fairly  serve  to  begin  with.  After  a  year's  experience 
the  teacher  will  need  no  guide.  He  will  receive  abundant 
suggestions  from  many  sources,  and  will  see  changes  which,  for 
the  time  at  least,  will  appear  to  be  marked  improvements. 

EXERCISES   IN    WOOD-TURNING. 

With  one  or  two  exceptions  these  drawings  show  but  half- 
projections,  the  lower  line  being  the  axis  of  the  piece.  The 
drawings  have  been  furnished  me  by  Mr.  Charles  F.  White  of 
the  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School.  They  are  intended  to 
furnish  opportunity  for  learning  the  use  of  all  the  tools,  and 
to  cultivate  a  taste  for  graceful  curves  and  an  eye  for  symmetry. 
They  may  be  executed  in  soft  or  hard  woods,  plain  or  built-up 
by  gluing. 

The  first  twelve  drawings  represent  pieces  from  six  to  ten 
inches  long.  Only  newly-used  tools  are  mentioned. 

No.  1.     (Fig.  37.}     Plain   cylinder.     Carpenter's  gouge. 


FIG.  37. 


No.  2.    (Fig.  38.)     Cylinders  and  cones.     Turner's  gouge. 


FIG.  38. 

No.  3.     (Fig.  39.)    Stepped   cylinders.     Wide  chisel. 


FIG.  39. 


Chap.  II.]  EXERCISES   IN    WOOD-TURNING.  61 

No.  4.     (Fig.  40.)     Double-stepped   cylinders. 


FIG.  40. 

No.  5.    (Fig.  41.)    Large  and  small  cylinders. 


FIG.  41. 


No.  6.     (Fig.  42.)    Convex  curves. 


FIG.  42. 

No.  7.    (Fig.  43.)    Beads,  cones,  and  cylinders. 


FIG.  43. 

No.  8.    (Fig.  44.)     Convex   and   concave  curves. 


FIG.  44. 


62          FIRST  YEAR   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL.    [Chap,  IL 
No.  9.     (Fig.  45.)     Flowing  or  reverse  curves. 


FIG.  45. 

No.  1O.    (Fig.  46.)     Reverse  curves.     Small  baluster. 


FIG.  46. 


No.  11.    (Fig.  47.)    A  baluster  pillar.     This  may  be  length- 
ened into  a  table-leg. 


FIG.  47. 

No.  J2.    (Fig.  48.)     Baluster  without  base. 


FIG.  48. 

No.  13.  (Fig.  49.)  Face-plate  work.  This  is  turning  across 
the  grain.  Each  of  the  drawings  represents  a  half-projection. 
The  screw  shows  how  the  block  is  fastened  to  the  face-plate. 
(a)  represents  a  plain  solid  cylinder.  (5)  shows  two  cylinders, 
a  square  corner  having  been  turned  off.  (c)  shows  that  each 
of  the  sharp  corners  has  been  turned  away,  leaving  conical 
bands,  (d)  shows  that  the  corners  have  been  turned  off,  leaving 


Chap,  tt]        SUCCESSIVE  EXERCISES   ON   ONE  PIECE. 


63 


an  ogee  outline.  (Y).  The  outline  is  modified  into  a  capital 
molding,  and  a  cylindrical  cavity  is  sunk  into  its  face  as 
tho  to  fit  the  top  of  a  pillar  or  column. 


(a) 


No.  14.  (Fig.  50.)  Chuck  work,  (a)  represents  a  half- 
section  of  a  block  on  the  face-plate  screw.  The  exterior  has 
been  turned  off  into  three  stepped  cylinders,  and  a  cylindrical 
opening  has  been  sunk  into  its  face.  We  must  now  suppose 
that  a  two-cylinder  opening  is  wanted  in  the  back,  or  left-hand 
side.  The  block  must  then  be  taken  off,  turned  round,  and 
inserted  in  a  chuck.  (6)  shows  the  chuck  screwed  to  the  face- 
plate and  partially  cut  out.  For  the  sake  of  the  practice,  the 


FIG.  50. 


chuck-cavity  may  be  made  to  take  the  form  of  (6),  showing  a 
convex  outline ;  or  concave  outline  as  shown  in  (V),  where  it 
is  a  hemispherical  cavity ;  or  (c?),  where  it  has  just  the  form  to 
support  without  injury  the  first  piece  (a).  When  the  piece  is 
accurately  carried  by  the  chuck,  the  double  cylindrical  opening 
may  be  cut  out  of  the  original  piece,  leaving  but  a  skeleton  of 
material  in  the  finished  piece.  This  exercise  is  very  interesting, 
and  admits  of  great  variation. 


64        FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING    SCHOOL.     [Chap.  H 


(6) 


FIG.  51. 


No.  15.  (Fig.  51.)  Ring  with  octagonal  section.  This 
figure,  like  the  last  one,  shows  a  half-section  of  the  ring. 

(a)  shows  that  the  ring  is  partly 
formed  from  the  face  of  a  block 
screwed  to  the  face-plate  by  the 
center  screw.  Three  of  the  faces 
of  the  ring  are  finished,  and  two 
more,  the  inner  and  the  outer,  are 
accurately  turned.  Perhaps  the 
outer  one  should  be  defined  by  a 
faint  line  before  it  is  removed 
from  the  screw,  (ft)  shows  that 
a  chuck  has  been  made  to  receive  it  after  it  is  turned  round, 
and  that  the  original  back  of  the  block  has  been  cut  away,  and 
that  the  ring  has  been  finished. 

No.  16.  Napkin  ring.  This  should  be  shown  in  half- 
section  and  in  half-projection.  It  is  treated  like  the  ring  in 
Fig.  51 ;  that  is,  it  is  held  by  the  screw-center  till  the  interior 
and  the  greater  part  of  the  exterior  is  finished,  and  then  it  is 
turned  round,  and  the  finished  end  is  inserted  in  a  chuck.  For 
this  exercise  use  close-grained  hard  wood,  and  polish,  stain,  or 
shellac  the  result. 

No.  17.  (Fig.  52.)  Sphere.  The  sphere  is  shown  in  projec- 
tion ;  the  chuck,  in  section.  This  is  a  difficult  exercise,  and 

should  not  be  undertaken  till  the 
class  has  had  considerable  expe- 
rience in  chucking.  As  in  No.  14, 
the  chuck  may  be  a  valuable  exer- 
cise in  itself.  The  sphere  may  be 
approximately  turned  between  two 
centres.  It  may  then  be  placed 
in  a  chuck,  as  shown  in  the  cut. 
The  circle  of  contact  is  a  little  less 
than  a  great  circle.  The  sphere 

should  be  moved  in  the  chuck  so  as  to  take  all  possible  posi- 
tions, and  be  tested  thoroughly,  before  it  can  be  considered 
finished.  Spheres  turned  from  built-up  pieces  of  light  and 
dark  woods  are  very  pleasing  when  well  done. 


FIG.  52. 


Chap,  H] 


TPIE  STUDY  OF  GRACEFUL   FORMS. 


65 


No.  18.  (Fig.  53.)  Goblet.  This  is  shown  in  half-section 
and  half-projection.  It  may  be  wholly  turned  from  the  screw- 
center  of  the  face-plate.  The 
parts  farthest  from  the  plate 
should  be  finished  first. 
Cedar,  mahogany,  cherry, 
gum,  rose-wood,  oak,  and 
black  walnut  are  good  woods 
for  goblets  and  vases,  tho  I 
have  seen  beautiful  work  of 
this  description  executed  in 
white  pine  ;  cedar  splits 
easily,  but  has  a  fine  color. 

No.  19.  A  composition 
or  design.  At  this  stage 
of  his  work  the  pupil  has  a 
clear  idea  of  what  he  would 
like  to  make  for  a  final  or 
"  show  "  piece.  This  "  show  " 
is  not  to  be  a  vain  parade, 
but  the  actual  combination 
of  his  exercises  into  a  work 
of  both  use  and  beauty.  The 
pupil  should  early  learn  that 
Use  and  Beauty  should  never 
be  divorced.  Every  blossom  should  be  the  promise  of  fruit ; 
so  every  fruit  should  be  heralded  by  a  beautiful  flower.  It 
is  altogether  probable  that  his  turning  exercises  have  opened 
the  pupil's  eyes  to  see  and  analyze  forms  of  grace  hitherto 
unnoticed.  Handsome  furniture,  moldings,  cornices,  pillars, 
rounds,  balusters,  posts,  etc.,  have  been  examined  with  won- 
dering delight.  The  boy  finds  so  much  that  pleases  him,  so 
many  graceful  combinations,  that  in  his  first  design  he  will 
probably  load  his  piece  most  extravagantly.  Nevertheless,  give 
him  a  reasonable  caution  not  to  ornament  too  much,  and  then 
let  him  have  his  will.  He  will  soon  see  how  superior  is  simple 
grace  and  fair  proportion,  and  yet  how  difficult  it  is  to  satisfy 
a  critical  eye.  A  balustrade,  a  hat-rack  (for  fastening  on  a 


FIG.  53. 


66        FIRST   YEAR   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.    [Chap,  IL 

wall),  a  small  table,  a  toy  bedstead,  a  spoked  wheel,  a  set  of 
chessmen,  a  nest  of  thin  boxes  with  covers,  —  such  are  some 
of  the  things  which  may  properly  be  chosen  for  the  display  of 
one's  skill.  Whatever  is  taken,  require  first  a  figured  drawing 
made  carefully  to  large  scale. 

WOOD-CAB  VING. 

Considerable  wood-carving  may  be  done  with  ordinary  bench 
tools,  tho  fine  work  should  not  be  attempted  with  coarse  instru- 
ments. The  great  thing  is  to  learn  how  to  work  with  the  grain, 
and  how  to  hold  the  tool  for  grooving  or  paring.  The  piece  to 
be  wrought  upon  is  to  be  firmly  supported  in  the  vise,  and  the 
cutting-tool  is  usually  to  be  driven  along  by  the  hand.  Occa- 
sionally a  light  mallet  may  be  used. 

No.  1.  A  gouge  exercise.  Fig.  54  shows  a  variety  of  work 
upon  one  block,  by  means  of  which  one  learns  to  take  the  grain 
at  all  angles.  The  gouge  is  the  main  article  to  be  used.  All 
surfaces  should  be  left  smooth  or  polished.  The  block  is  about 
six  inches  long. 


FIG.  54. 


No.  2.  A  gluing  and  chisel  exercise.  Fig.  55  shows  a 
piece  composed  of  eight  strips  matched  and  glued,  and  after- 
wards dressed  with  the  wide  chisel  and  polished.  The  drawing 


Chap,  H]  A    GLUING  AND   CHISEL   EXERCISE.  67 

shows  the  variety  which  may  be  worked  into  one  piece.  The 
effect  of  the  gluing  is  very  striking  if  dark  and  light  colors 
alternate  in  the  shield. 

In  any  event,  wood  with  clear  grain  should  be  used,  and  the 
surfaces  should  be  polished  so  as  to  bring  out  the  beauty  of 
the  wood. 


FIG.  55. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  special  wood-carving  tools,  tho  in 
school  the  number  need  not  be  large. 

The  tools  used  may  vary  somewhat ;  those  selected  for  the 
class  in  the  St.  Louis  School  are  the  following.  The  numbers 
refer  to  the  standard  numbers  on  the  imported  "  London  tools.'* 

WOOD-CARVING   TOOLS. 

No.  1.     \"  firmer  (straight  chisel). 

2.  f"  corner  firmer  (diagonal  chisel). 

3.  |"  straight  gouge  (flat). 

5.  £"  straight  gouge  (less  flat). 

8.  £"  straight  gouge  (round). 

9.  f"  straight  gouge  (round,  more  curvature). 
11.  $'  straight  gouge  (sharply  curved). 

11.     \"  straight  gouge  (sharply  curved). 

28.    -^"  short  bent  gouge. 

39.     f"  parting  tool  (triangular  edge). 


68        FIRST   YEAR    OF.  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  H 

The  tools  used  by  Mr.  House  of  the  Toledo  Manual  Training 
School  are  somewhat  different. 

The  material  may  be  soft  woods,  such  as  gum,  elm,  poplar, 
or  pine,  the  first  two  of  which  split  with  great  difficulty.  The 
later  exercises  may  be  in  harder  wood,  such  as  black  walnut, 
mahogany,  rosewood,  or  oak,  —  the  last  being  preferred  for 
high  relief:  but  exercises  in  high  relief  should  usually  be  de- 
ferred till  a  subsequent  course  in  an  art  school. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  N.  W.  House  of  the  Toledo  Manual 
Training  School  for  the  following  series  of  graded  elementary 
exercises  with  regular  wood-carving  tools.  They  have  served  as 
the  basis  of  our  exercises  in  this  direction  during  the  past  year. 

The  thickness  of  the  wood  varies  in  the  different  exercises 
from  three-eighths  to  three-quarters  of  an  inch. 

No.  3.  (Fig.  56.)  Grooving  across  the  grain.  Use  straight 
gouge,  |"  wide,  No.  11.  In  every  exercise  first  lay  out  the 
work  in  pencil. 


FIG.  56. 


No.  4.    (Fig.  57.)    Grooving  with  and  across  the  grain. 

Use  straight  gouge,  1"  wide,  No.  11.     Cut,  not  split,  the  wood. 
Keep  the  tool  sharp,  and  work  the  tool  along  wholly  by  hand. 


FIG.  57. 


Chap.  II,] 


EXERCISES  IN    WOOD-CARVING. 


69 


No.  5.  (Fig.  58.)  Circular  grooving.  Same  tool  as  before. 
Carry  the  tool  as  a  tangent  to  the  curve.  Practice  cutting 
right-handed  and  left-handed. 


FIG.  58. 

No.  6.    (Fig.  59.)    Convex  panel,  with  tracery.     Use  two 

gouges  and  the  parting-tool.  Conduct  the  exercise  in  two 
parts :  first,  produce  the  convex  panel ;  and  second,  the  com- 
pound shaded  grooves  which  should  be  drawn  on  the  convex 
surface. 


FIG.  59. 


No.  7.  (Fig.  60.)  Engraved  panel.  The  two  corners  are 
carved.  The  sweeping  grooves  are  clear  cuts  of  varying  depth, 
made  by  the  parting-tool.  The  intervening  cuts  are  made  with 
a  flat  gouge. 


FIG.  60. 


70        FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING   SCHOOL.     [Chap,  H 

No.  8.    (Fig.  61.)    Panel   with  engraved  tendril.     Use  two 

gouges,  cutting  grooves  of  varying  depth. 


FIG.  61. 

No.  9.  (Fig.  62.)  Carved  square  panel.  Quadrifolium 
in  relief.  Use  two  gouges  and  a  straight  chisel.  The  edges 
of  the  panel  are  plain  bevels.  The  edges  of  the  leaves  are 
slightly  under-cut.  The  panel  is  sunk  about  one-fourth  of  an 
inch.  The  center  is  hemispherical.  The  ground  is  roughened 
by  a  spike  having  a  large  number  of  small  projections  on  its 
end. 


FIG.  62. 


No.  1O.    (Fig.  63.)    Panel  with  carved  vine.     The  vine  is 
in  sharp  relief.     Leave  all  corners  clean  and  smoothly  cut. 


FIG.  63. 


Chap.  H,]  EXERCISES  IN    WOOD-CARVING.  71 

No.  11.  (Fig.  64.)  Concave  circular  piece.  The  corner 
designs  are  engraved ;  the  central  parts  carved  out  to  a  depth 
of  one-quarter  or  three-eighths  of  an  inch.  The  ribs  and  cir- 
cumferences are  cut  deeply,  while  the  rosette  in  the  center  is  in 
relief.  The  center  is  convex,  rising  to  a  blunt  point,  with  sharp 
shaded  grooves  running  to  the  apex. 


FIG.  64. 


No.  12.  (Fig.  65.)  Carved  diagonal  panel.  The  corners 
are  carved,  the  triangular  borders  being  beveled,  and  the 
radiating  panels  being  convex  upward.  The  rhomboidal  panel 


FIG.  65. 


is  deeply  carved  with  overlapping  leaves,  sharply  under-cut. 
The  "  corner-firmer  "  is  especially  useful  in  finishing  sharp  cor- 
ners when  under-cut. 

Oiling  the  portions  in  relief  gives  them  a  rich  appearance,  and 


72         FIRST   YEAR    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING    SCHOOL.     [Chap.  H, 

at  the  same  time  brings  into  prominence  the  poor  finish  of  sur- 
faces. 

The  time  given  to  wood-carving  is  about  four  weeks.  As 
an  alternative  with  carving  or  engraving  wood,  I  suggest  the 
introduction  of  several  exercises  in  carving  plaster-of-Paris 
blocks.  The  scale  of  the  details  should  be  increased. 

It  is  possible  that  the  reader  who  has  followed  me  so  far  will 
be  surprised  to  find  the  first  year  at  an  end  without  that  useful 
work  which  he  has  all  the  time  assumed  we  should  do  before 
the  year  should  close.  He  feels,  perhaps,  that  all  we  have  done 
thus  far  has  been  in  the  nature  of  getting  ready  to  do  something. 
Perhaps  he  wonders  why  the  boys  have  not  made  themselves 
bureaus,  desks,  and  chairs,  or  supplied  their  homes  with  useful 
articles  and  with  pretty  pictures. 

As  I  shall  discuss  this  subject  later  on  quite  fully,  I  must 
refer  him  to  the  later  chapters.  However,  I  have  no  objection 
to  final  pieces,  which  combine  the  principles  and  methods  con- 
tained in  the  exercises,  and  which  serve  to  show  the  pupils 
themselves  the  value  of  what  they  have  got.  But  to  make 
the  production  of  articles  the  main  object,  and  the  learning 
of  principles  and  methods  incidental,  would  be  to  choose  the 
shadow  rather  than  the  substance  ;  to  destroy  our  school  by 
converting  it  into  a  factory.  No,  this  is  a  school ;  its  object  is 
education.  Doubtless  the  world  will  have  work  for  these  boys 
to  do  when  they  get  outside ;  let  us  give  them  the  power  to  do 
it  well. 


Chap,  in,]  GENERAL   PRINCIPLES.  73 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  SECOND,  OR  MIDDLE  YEAR. 

careful  reader  of  the  last  chapter  will  read  much 
between  the  lines  of  this.  The  same  general  principles 
are  to  be  followed,  and  in  the  details  of  the  work  many  of  the 
methods  will  be  the  same.  The  pupils  are  a  year  older  ;  they 
are  considerably  larger,  for  their  physical  development  is  going 
on  at  a  maximum  rate ;  they  have  made  some  progress  intel- 
lectually and  manually,  but  a  good  deal  more  morally,  in  con- 
fidence and  self-assertion.  They  need  firm,  kind,  sympathetic 
management.  The  work  of  the  year  is  quite  new,  of  great 
interest,  and  sufficiently  difficult  to  yield  healthy  discipline. 

Of  course  I  assume  the  full  work  of  the  previous  year; 
unless  it  has  been  fairly  done,  the  boy  should  not  be  in  the  mid- 
dle class.  In  deciding  the  question  of  promotion,  all  matters 
should  be  taken  into  account ;  at  the  same  time,  it  should  be 
admitted  that  the  mathematical  and  other  sequence  studies 
afford  the  chief  criterion.  Without  mathematical  success  the 
work  of  the  second  year  cannot  be  done.  It  is  a  mistake  to 
insist  upon  excellence  either  in  the  direction  of  practical 
mechanics,  or  in  memory  studies,  such  as  language  and  history. 

If  the  student  has  any  brains  at  all,  he  is  likely  to  do  well 
in  something,  and  a  partial  failure  in  a  single  direction  should 
not  prevent  his  going  on  in  the  course.  Pupils  have  very  dif- 
ferent gifts,  and  the  discovery  of  these  gifts  should  be  followed 
by  prompt  recognition  of  them.  Instead  of  trying  to  force  all 
comers  into  the  same  Procrustean  mold,  it  is  our  duty  to  give 
each  full  liberty  of  growth.  If  a  boy  fails  in  the  shop  but  suc- 
ceeds in  his  Latin,  or  vice  versa,  he  ought  still  to  go  on,  if  physi- 
cal strength  and  fair  mathematical  power  are  not  wanting.  But 


74  THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE   YEAR.  [Chap,  m, 

here  let  me  say  that  almost  without  exception,  mathematical 
and  mechanical  power  go  together.  If  a  boy  fails  in  the  shop, 
he  is  quite  sure  to  be  weak  in  arithmetic  and  algebra ;  but  it  is 
not  at  all  sure,  —  it  is  scarcely  probable,  —  that  one  who  is  a 
manual  failure  is  weak  in  language  and  history  and  spelling. 
Manual  failures  seem  to  arise  from  a  lack  of  power  to  appreciate 
precision  and  logical  order.  A  boy  deficient  in  mechanical 
power  rarely  asks  "  why  ?  "  One  way  appears  to  him  about  as 
reasonable  as  another ;  he  adopts  a  certain  order  because  some 
one  else  did,  or  because  he  was  told  to  do  so.  He  bows  to 
authority.  When  his  work  is  compared  with  good  work,  he 
sees  no  great  difference ;  he  does  not  see  that  an  eighth  of  an 
inch  more  or  less  does  any  harm,  or  that  80°  or  100°  is  not  as 
good  as  90°.  Hence  it  is  that  in  our  promotions  from  class  to 
class,  it  is  not  necessary  to  lay  great  stress  upon  shop-work. 
Every  well-balanced  boy  does  passably  well  in  it,  and  the 
sequence  of  the  work  of  different  grades  does  not  demand  great 
proficiency.  Besides,  as  already  said,  the  pupil  may  never  have 
had  any  shop  opportunities  before,  and  it  may  take  some  time 
to  bring  out  his  innate  faculties.  Physical  maturity  (i.e.  com- 
mand of  one's  muscles  and  motions)  comes  at  very  unequal 
ages  in  different  boys.  Great  size  is  not  maturity ;  a  six-footer 
is  often  the  personification  of  physical  immaturity. 

For  the  sake  of  consistency  and  simplicity  I  shall  assume  that 
the  number  of  the  second  or  middle  class  has  fallen  from 
seventy-two  to  sixty-six,  and  that  it  consists  of  three  divisions 
of  twenty-two  each.  As  before,  three  teachers  are  necessary  : 
one  exclusively  for  the  shop,1  and  two  for  the  drawing  and 
book  studies.  Other  things  being  equal,  I  would  have  the 
teacher  of  physics  teach  the  drawing ;  for  the  reason  that  the 
correct  study  of  physics  involves  the  examination  and  execution 
of  drawings,  in  connection  with  the  design  and  construction  of 
physical  apparatus,  and  the  record  of  physical  experiments. 

The  science  study  for  the  year  is  physics.    The  mathematical 


1  It  is  better  not  to  divide  the  shop-work  between  two  teachers,  even  if  both  are 
competent;  there  should  be  no  divided  responsibility  in  the  care  of  the  tools,  the 
material,  and  the  shop  generally.  When  only  one  man  rules  the  shop,  every 
thing  is  more  likely  to  be  well  in  hand. 


Chap.  Ill,]       THE  STUDY  OF  ENGLISH  COMPOSITION. 


75 


study  is  elementary  algebra  continued  through  quadratics,  and 
a  few  weeks'  work  in  geometry. 

The  language  work  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  reading  of  three 
Books  of  Csesar  and  perhaps  an  oration  of  Cicero,  with  contin- 
ued study  of  the  Latin  grammar.  On  the  other  hand,  rhetoric 
with  frequent  almost  daily  exercises  in  English  composition  one 
term,  and  history  (English)  one  term. 

In  the  place  of  Latin  and  rhetoric  (or  history),  all  take 
modern  classics  once  a  week. 

The  daily  program  is  as  follows :  — 

SECOND   YEAR   PROGRAM. 


DIVISION. 

9—10. 

10—  11. 

11—13. 

18—1. 

1—3. 

3—3. 

3—4. 

I. 

Shopwork. 

Physics. 

Latin. 

<» 

Drawing. 

Mathe- 
matics. 

II. 

Physics. 

Algebra. 

Shopwork. 

English. 

Drawing. 

III. 

Algebra. 

Drawing. 

English 
or 
Latin. 

Physics. 

Shopwork. 

The  recitations  should  occupy  forty  or  fifty  minutes  each ; 
the  drawing,  a  full  hour ;  the  shop,  two  hours. 

I  assume  that  one  division  is  wholly  Latin,  another  wholly 
English ;  the  third  should  be  wholly  one  or  the  other,  or  a 
fourth  teacher  must  step  in  to  take  a  subdivision  of  the  class. 

If  the  physical  laboratory  will  admit  more  than  twenty-two 
pupils  in  a  division,  there  may  be  between  eleven  and  one 
o'clock  a  special  re-arrangement  of  the  first  and  third  divisions, 
which  will  admit  of  a  few  more  or  a  few  less  than  twenty-two 
in  the  Latin  division. 

All  the  mechanical  details  of  English  composition  should  be 
thoroughly  mastered  this  year,  even  for  the  Latins,  the  litera- 
ture hour  being  used  for  that  purpose  as  far  as  necessary. 
Teachers  must  never  forget  that  English  composition  like  every 
thing  else  in  and  out  of  school  is  not  learned  by  the  continued 
practice  of  faulty  methods  and  an  endless  repetition  of  errors, 


76  THE   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR.  [Chap.  HI. 

not  even  if  one's  results  are  unfailingly  pronounced  wrong,  and 
so  marked.  One  learns  a  correct  method  only  by  practising  a 
correct  method,  under  dictation  if  necessary.  Every  error 
should  be  fully  and  clearly  corrected  by  the  pupil  himself. 

The  teacher  should  always  invent  a  new  exercise  (and  this 
remark  applies  to  English  composition,  to  shop-work,  to  math- 
ematics and  to  Latin  alike),  in  which  the  pupil  may  have  an 
opportunity  to  avoid  certain  specified  old  errors,  and  follow  the 
best  usage.  Don't  try  to  "catch"  a  boy  when  he  is  unaware,  by 
giving  him  a  chance  to  repeat  an  old  error ;  but  lead  him  con- 
sciously to  correct  usage. 

The  persistence  of  error  is  something  remarkable.  I  have 
known  a  workman  follow  a  wrong  method  all  his  life,  tho 
strongly  suspecting  that  it  was  wrong.  I  know  intelligent 
people  by  scores  who  have  standard  errors  of  speech  which  they 
will  never  live  to  correct.  I  have  known  a  poor  cook  remain 
a  poor  cook  for  years,  tho  daily  practising  her  art  (?).  One  hour 
of  correct  doing,  under  the  eye  and  direction  of  a  teacher,  is 
worth  more  than  months  of  mere  criticism,  and  crude  attempts 
to  find  the  Correct  Way  by  the  Broad  Road  of  Error. 

Some  teachers  will  never  tell  a  pupil  the  plain,  simple  truth 
about  an  article,  or  method,  or  process  (which  may  after  all  be 
largely  a  matter  of  conventionality)  until  he  has  badgered  his 
brains  in  trying  to  invent  it  or  to  think  it  out,  or  has  exhausted 
his  patience  in  futile  "  guessing."  Some  teachers  even  empha- 
size wrong  ways  more  than  right  ones.  Such  teachers  of  How- 
Not-To-Do-It  should  be  muzzled,  or  at  least  put  under  bonds  not 
to  "  keep  school "  any  more. 

TEACHING   PHYSICS. 

I  cannot  forbear  a  few  words  about  the  correct  teaching  of 
physics.  It  is  only  in  a  manual  training  school  that  the  method 
which  appears  to  be  the  only  correct  one  can  be  advantageously 
followed.  Nowhere  else  are  pupils  so  ready  to  devise,  con- 
struct, interpret,  explain,  and  use  physical  apparatus.  Studying 
physics  without  handling  and  using  apparatus  is  like  eating  a 
meal  of  cook-books.  It  doesn't  nourish  ;  it  sounds  well,  but 
there  is  no  real  knowledge  in  it.  Concepts  which  for  the  most 


Chap,  III.]  METHODS    OF   TEACHING   PHYSICS.  77 

part  ought  to  be  primitive,  first-hand,  are  only  second-hand,  or 
third-hand,  or  mere  speculation.  Until  one  gets  a  certain  amount 
of  mental  stock  on  hand  in  the  shape  of  exact,  experimental 
knowledge  of  certain  things,  properties,  forces,  processes,  and 
relationships  (which  are  very  imperfectly  expressed  by  certain 
more  or  less  technical  terms),  he  cannot  appreciate  properly 
verbal  accounts  of  the  experiments  and  conclusions  of  others. 
The  drawing  of  a  piece  of  apparatus  is  far  inferior  to  the  appa- 
ratus itself,  at  least  to  elementary  students. 

In  the  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School,  the  study  of  physics 
is  becoming  more  and  more  a  matter  of  personal  observation 
and  personal  experiment  on  the  part  of  the  individual  pupils.1 

SECOND    YEAR   DRAWING. 

The  drawing  of  the  Second  Year  consists  of  several  new 
features,  notably :  projections  of  intersecting  or  truncated  geo- 
metrical bodies  (cylinders,  pyramids,  cones,  and  prisms) ;  the 
development  of  surfaces  ;  brush-tinting ;  mosaics  and  tracery ; 
isometric  drawing ;  detail  drawing,  and  drawings  for  patterns ; 
graining  and  ornamental  lettering  ;  and  some  study  of  historical 
forms  in  architecture. 

I  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  go  into  a  full  account  of  this 
work.  The  competent  teacher  needs  no  analysis  of  it ;  and  the 
incompetent  teacher  will  probably  let  it  alone.  I  desire,  how- 
ever, to  warn  against  undertaking  too  much.  The  groups  of 
blocks,  for  instance,  may  be  purely  ideal,  and  they  can  easily  be 
made  very  difficult.  My  advice  is  to  leave  complicated  work  to 
classes  in  descriptive  geometry  proper. 

The  work  should  all  be  done  in  pencil  and  then  in  ink  on 


1  Under  the  guidance  of  Mr.  C.  C.  Swofford,  who  last  year  conducted  four  divis- 
ions of  physics.  At  the  close  of  the  year  there  was  a  remarkable  display  of  quite 
elegant  and  perfectly  serviceable  apparatus,  constructed  by  the  class,  in  most 
cases  from  original  designs.  The  apparatus  was  explained  by  the  makers  and 
used  by  them  before  a  large  audience. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  Mr.  Swofford  could  not  have  succeeded  thus 
with  a  class  of  boys  who  had  had  no  training  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  who  could 
neither  make  nor  read  working  drawings. 

Our  physical  laboratory  contains  an  engine  lathe,  a  speed  lathe,  a  hand  planer, 
a  long  bench,  two  vises,  and  wood-working  and  iron-working  tools.  A  small 
upright  engine,  built  by  a  third-year  class,  drives  the  lathes  and  a  dynamo. 


78  THE   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE   YEAR.  [Chap,  III. 

stretched  paper,  with  great  accuracy  and  good  lining.  I  add 
a  few  of  the  exercises  purely  geometrical,  given  for  the  sake  of 
cultivating  the  geometric  imagination. 

1.  Triangular  prism  leaning  against  a  cube.     Find  three  pro- 
jections.    Dimensions  of  solids  should  be  given. 

2.  Hexagonal  prism  leaning  against  the  base  of  a  quadrangular 
pyramid  which  rests  on  a  face. 

3.  Circular  cylinder  leaning  against  a  cube. 

4.  Prism  lying  on  the  top  of  a  cylinder  while  a  pyramid  leans 
against  it. 

Though  it  is  not  necessary  to  follow  the  exact  dimensions  of 
wooden  or  plaster  models,  it  is  very  desirable  that  real  models 
be  used  to  illustrate  not  only  the  nature  of  the  bodies,  but  the 
nature  of  the  groups  to  be  drawn. 

In  order  to  get  three  accurate  projections  with  proper  regard 
to  visible  and  invisible  lines,  some  purely  "  construction  "  work 
must  be  done ;  it  is  well  if  these  latter  are  inked  in  red. 

For  the  benefit  of  interested  readers  who  are  not  draughtsmen, 
I  will  give  the  specifications  and  drawings  of  the  second  of  the 
above. 

PROBLEM: —  To  find  the  orthographic  projections  of  a  hexagonal 
prism  leaning  against  the  base  of  a  quadrangular  pyramid,  which  is 
lying  on  a  horizontal  plane. 

SOLUTION  :  —  Let  the  pyramid  have  a  base  2"  square.  (Exe- 
cute the  drawing  full  size.)  Let  it  be  so  placed  that  the  side 
projection  (elevation)  of  the  base  shall  be  a  single  straight  line 
(s'  c'  Fig.  66).  (This  should  be  illustrated  by  the  model.)  Let 
the  altitude  or  center  line  of  the  pyramid  be  2J".  Imagine  this 
line  drawn  perpendicular  to  the  base  from  its  center.  Its  pro- 
jection on  the  side  plane  will  be  2£"  long,  and  will  at  one  end 
bisect  the  projection  of  the  base  at  right  angles,  while  the  other 
end  will  touch  the  ground  line  (6r  .L).  There  are  several  ways 
of  finding  the  correct  position  of  the  side  projection  of  the  pyra- 
mid ;  perhaps  the  pupil  had  best  draw  it  in  pencil  in  its  erect 
position,  and  then  turn  it  over.  In  the  figure  it  is  drawn  with 
dotted  lines  in  an  inverted  position,  and  then  turned  down. 

The  top  view  (plan)  of  the  pyramid  is  now  readily  drawn. 


Chap.  III.]  ORTHOGRAPHIC   PROJECTIONS.  79 

The  base  is  s  c  d  h  and  the  apex  is  at  v.  It  will  be  noted  that 
two  of  the  edges  s  v  and  h  v  are  invisible  to  an  eye  directly 
above  the  object. 

Thus  far  I  have  taken  no  account  of  the  prism,  which  will  of 
course  hide  a  part  of  the  pyramid,  in  some  or  all  of  the  views. 
It  is  therefore  best  even  in  pencil  to  draw  the  lines  faint  and 
broken.  Now  not  to  make  the  problem  too  hard,  take  the  prism 
so  that  it  has  a  line  contact  with  the  horizontal  plane  on  which 
they  both  rest.  (Illustrate  this  by  models.)  One  line  (V'jt/) 
may  now  be  assumed  on  the  side  plane.  Suppose  the  base  to 


FIG.  66. 


be  a  regular  hexagon  whose  side  is  f",  while  the  edges  are  3" 
long.  Assume  the  position  of  the  lowest  side  of  the  base,  and 
draw  the  base  as  tho  the  prism  stood  erect.  (See  dotted 
base  full  size.)  In  this  position,  its  side  projection  is  in  Gr  L. 
Next  revolve  it  up  to  its  required  position.  (This  operation  is 
shown  by  the  circular  arc  x'r  xf).  The  entire  side  projection 
may  now  be  correctly  drawn,  /  5'  xf  a'  etc.  There  are  no 
invisible  lines  which  are  not  covered  by  visible  ones.  The  plan 
or  top  view  of  the  prism  may  now  be  drawn,  by  means  of 
perpendicular  and  parallel  lines.  It  is  easy  to  see  which  lines  in 
the  plan  are  to  be  drawn  full,  representing  visible  lines,  and 
which  broken.  The  reason  why  the  horizontal  projections  of 


80  THE  SECOND,    OR  MIDDLE   YEAR.  [Chap.  III. 

the  long  edges  are  parallel  to  G-  L  will  be  readily  seen  from  the 
models  in  front  of  a  side  plane. 

A  third,  or  end  projection,  may  be  drawn,  not  because  it  is 
necessary  to  full  representation,  but  for  the  mental  exercise. 

It  may  be  very  instructive  for  the  pupil  to  see  that  a  projec- 
tion may  readily  be  drawn  on  any  vertical  plane.  For  instance, 
suppose  one  looks  at  the  group  obliquely,  but  still  horizontally, 
from  the  right  front,  in  the  direction  of  the  large  arrow.  The 
projection  is  shown  beyond  the  line  P  Q.  The  heights  of  the 
points  above  P  Q  are  the  same  as  the  distances  of  the  same 
points  in  the  side  projection  from  G-  L.  In  this  view  I  have 
omitted  some  invisible  lines,  and  have  put  double  accents  on 
the  letters. 

The  next  regular  sheet  should  contain  truncated  solids  and 
their  developments.  For  the  first  exercise  it  may  be  well  to 
develop  the  entire  surface  of  a  regular  solid.  In  the  second 
show  a  prism  cut  by  a  plane.  Its  lateral  surface  below  the 
cutting  plane  is  to  be  developed,  or  rolled  out,  and  the  full  size 
of  the  inclined  section  is  to  be  shown.  The  drawing  is  easier 
than  the  following,  which  shows  a  truncated  irregular  pyramid 
and  its  development. 

PROBLEM  :  —  To  cut  an  irregular  pyramid  by  a  plane,  to  find  the 
true  size  of  the  section,  and  to  develop  the  surface  of  the  truncated 
pyramid. 

SOLUTION  :  —  Fig.  67  shows  the  full  operation,  which  should 
be  executed  on  a  scale  about  three  times  as  large,  and  with  all 
possible  accuracy.  The  central  part  of  the  drawing  shows  the 
plan  and  elevation  of  the  pyramid,  the  vertex  being  0,  0',  and 
the  base  1,  2,  3,  4,  5.  The  intersecting  plane  cuts  the  edges  in  the 
points  6,  7,  8,  9, 10.  The  points  10  and  10'  are  of  course  in 
the  same  perpendicular  to  5',  2',  and  so  for  the  other  points.  To 
get  the  full  size  of  the  section  I  draw  through  1  in  the  base  a 
broken  and  dotted  line  parallel  to  the  ground  line ;  and  at  any 
convenient  distance  from  the  elevation  a  second  broken  and 
dotted  line  parallel  to  the  cutting  plane  V,  10'.  From  the 
points  in  the  plan  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  I  draw  perpendiculars  to  the 
new  line  through  1.  These  perpendiculars  measure  the  hori- 


Chap.  Hi]  THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  A    PYRAMID. 


81 


zontal  distances  of  the  points  from  a  vertical  plane  through  1. 
Through  1',  8',  6',  9',  10',  draw  perpendiculars  to  and  beyond 
the  parallel  line,  and  make  the  portions  beyond  the  line  just  as 
long  as  the  corresponding  distances  last  referred  to  in  the  plan. 
You  will  thus  determine  the  points  7,  8,  9, 10,  6,  and  by  connect- 
ing them  you  will  have  the  full  size  of  the  section,  shown  at  (a). 
In  order  to  develop  the  lateral  surface,  we  must  find  the  true 
length  of  the  edges  of  the  pyramid,  both  the  parts  cut  off,  and 
the  full  length.  This  is  done  by  means  of  the  perpendicular 
and  inclined  lines  on  the  left  near  (£>).  The  lines  are  put  off  by 


FIG.  67. 


themselves  to  avoid  confusion.  The  perpendicular  measures 
the  altitude  of  the  entire  pyramid.  The  inclined  lines 
represent  the  edges  of  the  pyramid,  which  are  supposed  to  be 
swung  round  the  altitude  line  till  they  are  parallel  to  the  side 
plane.  Thus  the  distance  from  V  to  the  foot  of  the  perpendic- 
ular is  equal  to  0  1  in  the  plan  ;  and  0"  V  gives  the  full  length 
of  the  edge  0  1,  0'  V.  From  6'  a  line  is  brought  along  by  the 
T-square  to  6",  and  then  we  have  the  distance  6"  1",  as  the 
true  length  of  the  edge  between  the  point  6  and  the  point  1. 
Similarly  all  the  true  lengths  are  found. 

At  (V)  we  have  the  development  of  the  surface  supposed  to 


82  THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE   YEAR.  [chap.  HI. 

be  cut  open  along  the  edge  0,  10,  5.  It  is  constructed  thus : 
Draw  0  5,  Fig.  (c)  equal  to  0"  5",  Fig.  (5),  and  make  0  10 
equal  to  0"  10".  Next  determine  the  position  of  1,  Fig.  (<?),  by 
making  0  1,  and  5  1,  respectively  equal  to  0"  V  in  Fig.  (6),  and 
5  1,  in  the  base  of  the  pyramid.1  The  point  6,  Fig.  (c),  may 
then  be  found  by  making  0  6  equal  to  0"  6",  Fig.  (6),  or  10  6 
equal  to  10  6,  Fig.  (a).  The  two  methods  should  check.  We 
have  now  in  5,  1,  6,  10,  Fig.  (c),  the  full  size  of  the  four-sided 
face  shown  in  the  plan  by  the  same  figures. 

Similarly  the  rest  of  the  development  can  be  found  in  less  time 
than  it  takes  to  write  out  the  explanation.  The  rationale  of  the 
methods  generally  comes  with  a  thorough  mastery  of  them. 
The  teacher  should  see  to  it  that  the  reasons  do  appear.  When 
this  solution  is  fully  understood,  the  pupil  may  attack  other 
problems  with  confidence.  A  cylinder  may  now  be  cut  by  a 
plane,  and  developed. 

Next  follows  a  cone  similarly  truncated.  The  cylinder  is 
treated  as  though  it  were  a  prism  of  a  large  number  of  sides ; 
and  the  cone  is  treated  as  if  a  pyramid.  When  the  sides  of  the 
base  are  taken  as  small  as  a  quarter  of  an  inch  (to  a  radius  of 
one  inch),  the  difference  between  the  circumference  of  the 
circle  and  that  of  the  inscribed  polygon  is  quite  inappreciable : 
about  one-sixtieth  of  an  inch. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  greatly  extend  these  exercises,  giving  the 
intersections  of  one  solid  with  another:  but  I  doubt  its  utility 
beyond  the  intersections  of  cylinders  and  of  prisms.  Two 
examples  of  the  former  and  one  of  the  latter  are  all  I  would 
give  before  the  systematic  study  of  descriptive  geometry,  which 
offers  the  only  proper  basis  for  the  study  of  intersections  of 
surfaces,  shades  and  shadows,  and  perspective. 

Isometric  drawing  should  be  illustrated  by  two  sheets,  the 
first  containing  the  projections  of  geometrical  solids  and  the 
details  of  wood-work,  partly  from  models,  and  partly  from  work- 
ing drawings.  The  second  sheet  should  contain  the  isometric 
projections  of  a  piece  of  apparatus,  or  set  of  shelves,  or  similar 
plane-faced  work,  with  isometrics  of  its  details.  Details  are 

i  The  teacher  should  explain  and  illustrate  this  bit  of  geometrical  drawing  just 
as  it  is  needed. 


Chap.  Ill]  DETAILS   OF  DRAWING   EXERCISES.  83 

usually  drawn  to  a  larger  scale,  that  the  essential  features  of 
joints,  etc.,  may  be  clearly  shown.  The  first  isometric  drawing 
should  be  a  cube  with  an  inscribed  circle  on  each  face.  Give 
special  attention  to  the  method  of  getting  points  in  the  ellipses 
which  result  from  the  projection  of  these  circles,  so  that  the 
pupils  may  in  future  get  the  projections  of  such  circles  without 
aid. 

Flat-tinting,  or  "  washing-in "  with  dilute  India-ink  and  a 
brush,  should  be  practised  till  the  pupil  can  get  an  even  tint  of 
any  required  depth  of  color.  The  sheet  should  in  part  repre- 
sent mere  mosaics ;  and  in  part  a  succession  of  ribs,  blocks,  and 
depressions,  square  or  cylindrical,  receiving  shadows,  and  bear- 
ing different  grades  of  shade. 

A  most  excellent  exercise  in  pure  lining  is  to  draw  in  pencil 
a  sharp  circumference  of  about  three  inches  radius,  using  a  horn 
center  so  as  not  to  prick  the  paper.  Divide  it  into  any  conven- 
ient even  number  of  equal  parts  from  sixteen  to  twenty-four,  and 
then  draw  smooth,  even,  jet-black,  straight  lines  from  every  point 
of  division  to  every  other  point  of  division.  Finally,  rub  out 
the  original  pencil  line.  The  results  if  well  done  will  be  very 
satisfactory.  Tho  a  purely  rectilinear  figure,  it  will  suggest  a 
large  number  of  circles.  I  hope  every  teacher  of  instrumental 
drawing  will  give  this  exercise. 

In  laying  out  architectural  work  the  teacher  must  not  be  too 
ambitious.  College  or  engineering  students  have  often  found  it 
necessary  to  study  the  drawing  as  outlined  above,  and  they 
have  often  shown  no  more  finish  than  these  boys  now  show ; 
and  yet  it  is  manifestly  unwise  to  undertake  the  same  grade  of 
architectural  work  with  these  as  would  be  done  with  them. 
Maturity  and  mathematics  are  great  helps  in  abstract  draw- 
ing. 

Rest  content  with  a  study  of  moldings,  of  balusters,  of  pedi- 
ments, of  brick  arches  and  skew-backs,  of  the  main  features  of 
columns,  capitals  and  cornices,  and  of  girders  and  joice  (in 
isometric).  Two  sheets  of  such  work  with  elaborate  borders 
will  suffice. 

As  to  free-hand  work,  it  should  follow,  or  rather  accompany, 
instrumental  work.  As  soon  as  the  principles  involved  are 


84  THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR.  [chap.  HI. 

understood  and  illustrated  by  accurate  instrumental  work,  they 
should  be  illustrated  by  free-hand  work.  Clearness,  boldness, 
and  precision  should  be  aimed  at,  and  the  work  should  be 
done  on  a  large  scale.  Brown  paper  may  be  used,  and  con- 
siderable erasing  allowed.  The  principles  involved  in  free- 
hand work  are  the  same  as  in  instrumental.  In  drawing 
from  objects  the  original  sketches  should  always  be  largely 
free-hand. 

Some  ornamental  lettering,  and  study  of  borders,  will  close 
the  drawing  for  the  second  year. 

THE  SHOP-WORK. 

The  shop-work  of  the  second  year  is  mainly  in  an  entirely  new 
field.  Nothing  could  be  more  unlike  than  the  forge  and  the 
bench,  the  anvil  and  the  vise,  fire  and  the  cutting  edges,  iron 
and  wood.  In  the  forging  shop,  to  which  we  now  go,  personal 
characteristics  are  more  prominent  than  in  the  former  shop. 
Every  thing  seems  to  depend  on  the  student.  No  machine  or 
tool  does  his  work  for  him.  His  eyes,  Ms  hands,  and  his  judg- 
ment are  chiefly  responsible  for  the  results.  It  is  for  this  reason 
that  a  bright  boy  soon  discovers  a  wonderful  relish  for  the  work 
in  spite  of  its  occasional  call  for  severe  exercise,  its  abundant 
dirt,  and  its  fervent  heat. 

The  shop  has  twenty-two  forges,  each  supplied  with  a  power 
blast,  a  tank  of  water,  an  anvil,  and  a  kit  of  forge  and  anvil 
tools.  The  forges  are  of  a  portable  or  special  make  placed  in 
pairs  back  to  back,  with  a  common  hood  and  up-take,  and  a  nine- 
inch  pipe  leading  to  the  main  exhaust  pipe  which  connects 
directly  with  the  large  fan.1  Each  up-take  has  a  tight-fitting 
damper,  which  should  be  closed  when  the  fires  are  out ;  a  single 
fire,  or  even  several  fires,  may  then  be  used  without  starting 
the  fan,  if  the  chimney  has  a  fair  draft.  With  the  fan  and  all  the 
fires  in  full  blast,  there  should  be  no  serious  difficulty  from  smoke 
and  gas  in  the  shop.  The  hood  shuts  in  three  sides  of  the  forge 
for  the  double  purpose  of  confining  the  smoke  and  of  keeping 

1  In  the  St.  Louis  School  there  is  a  Sturtevant  fan  with  a  delivery  of  18''  by  23" 
which  was  presented  to  the  school  by  the  inventor.  It  carries  off  the  smoke  most 
efficiently. 


Chap.  HI.]  OUTFIT  OF   THE  FORGING   SHOP.  85 

the  radiant  heat  from  adjacent  workmen.  Above  the  tweer 
(tuyere)  is  a  circular  fire-pot  six  inches  in  diameter,  admitting 
of  a  fire  large  enough  for  all  the  uses  of  the  shop. 

One  forge  rather  larger  than  the  rest,  with  larger  fittings, 
serves  for  heavier  occasional  work.  The  anvils  stand  on  oak 
blocks  sunk  in  the  clay  floor  and  (with  one  exception)  weigh 
about  eighty-four  pounds.  The  water  tanks  of  cast  iron  hang 
by  forged  hooks  upon  the  edges  of  the  forge.  The  kit  of  tools 
comprises  a  machinist  hammer  weighing  (with  handle)  one 
pound  and  three  quarters ;  four  pairs  of  tongs :  i",  f  ",  J"  and 
f";  a  poker,  a  rake,  a  shovel,  a  sprinkler,  an  anvil,  a  chisel 
("  hardy  "),  a  steel  square,  and  one  sledge  to  two  forges.  One 
leather  apron  belongs  to  each  forge. 

Fig.  68  is  made  from  a  photograph  of  the  St.  Louis  forging 
shop,  and  shows  many  of  the  details  of  the  shop. 

The  cost  of  a  forge  and  one  set  of  tools  is  about  '$25.00,  not 
including  blast  and  fan.  The  cost  for  these  two  things  is  too 
dependent  upon  circumstances  to  be  estimated. 

The  operations  of  the  forging  shop  involve  a  personal  knowl- 
edge of  three  things  :  — 

1.  How  to  heat  the  piece  to  be  operated  upon ; 

2.  How  to  hold  it ;-  and 

3.  How  to  strike  it. 

In  accordance  with  strict  educational  methods  we  analyze  the 
operations,  give  opportunity  to  acquire  the  three  kinds  of 
knowledge,  and  teach  the  three  arts  separately. 

I.  How  TO  HEAT.     The  management  of  the  fire  so  as  to 
secure  any  desired  degree  of  heat ;  to  have  one  point  of  the 
piece  hot  and  all  others  cool ;  to  keep  the  piece  under  treatment 
clean  ;  to  save  fuel ;  and  to  know  just  the  degree  of  heat  neces- 
sary for  each  operation  —  these  are  things  slowly  learned,  but 
they  must  be  learned  well. 

II.  How  TO  HOLD.     As  a  rule  this  is  the  work  of  the  left 
hand.     It  involves  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  hammer  and 
anvil ;  a  knowledge  of  the  behavior  of  metals  at  different  tem- 
peratures under  the  hammer  ;  and  a  knowledge  of  what  can,  and 
what  cannot,  be  done  with  metals  through  the  agency  of  heat 
and  pressure. 


86 


THE   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR. 


[Chap.  III. 


c  'S, 


Chap.  Ill,]  THE  OPERATIONS   OF  THE  FORGE.  87 

III.  How  TO  STRIKE.  Here  the  right  hand  and  arm,  wrist, 
elbow,  and  shoulder,  come  into  full  play.1  Strength  and  relia- 
bility are  essential  to  force  and  accuracy.  The  pupil  must 
learn  how  to  grasp,  how  to  swing,  and  how  to  deliver  blows. 
He  must  know  the  particular  tools  to  be  used ;  when  to  strike 
heavy,  when  light ;  when  rapidly,  when  deliberately. 

Precepts,  examples,  and  trials  are  all  necessary,  and  the 
teacher  must,  to  a  certain  extent,  teach  these  arts  separately. 

The  worker  at  the  anvil  has,  so  far  as  the  matter  of  forging 
is  concerned,  but  a  few  processes  to  learn,  though  the  number 
of  ways  and  degrees  in  which  they  may  be  combined  in  prac- 
tical work  may  be  countless.  With  special  combinations  the 
manual  training  school  has  little  to  do ;  it  is  chiefly  concerned 
with  the  fundamental  principles. 

The  processes  may  be  classed  as  follows :  — 

1.  DRAWING,  or  making  a  piece  longer.2      The  effect  of 
blows  on  the  sides  of  a  piece,  thereby  forcing  out  the  ends, 
is  similar  to  that  of  tension  applied  at  the  ends. 

2.  UPSETTING,  or  making  a  piece  shorter  by  blows  upon  the 
ends.     This  is  just  the  reverse  of  "  drawing." 

3.  SHAPING,  or  changing  the  fyure  of  a  cross-section  without 
changing  its  area.     This  operation  combines  Nos.  1  and  2. 

4.  BENDING,  using  various  shapes,  —  round,  square,  and  flat ; 
the  last  is  to  be  bent  in  two  ways.     This  operation  involves 
STRETCHING  and  COMPRESSING,  and  according  to  the  quality  of 
the  metal  requires  a  special  heat.     In  all  these  exercises  the 
student  must  learii  to  work  rapidly  when  the  iron  is  hot,  and 
to  stop  the  moment  the  temperature  has  fallen  too  far. 

5.  PUNCHING,  CUTTING,  and  BREAKING.     These  operations 
depend  on  the  nature  of  the  material  and  on  the   degree   of 
heat. 

6.  WELDING,  uniting  two  pieces  by  forcing  the  fibers  to  inter- 
mingle at  a  high  temperature.     This  requires  a  nice  adjustment 

1  I  am  quite  in  favor  of  doing  justice  to  the  left  hand  and  arm,  and  would 
encourage  pupils  to  use  either  hand,  but  I  would  not  delay  the  progress  of  the 
class  on  that  account. 

2  The  teacher  who  has  studied  strength  and  elasticity  of  materials  will  under- 
stand that  heat  lowers  the  elastic  limit,  and  makes  it  comparatively  easy  to 
lengthen  or  shorten  the  fibers  of  metals  in  "permanent  set "  without  injury. 


88  THE   SECOND,    OE   MIDDLE    YEAR.  [Ohap,  HI. 

of  the  heat  in  the  two  parts  at  the  same  instant,  and  their  super- 
position with  clean  surfaces.  Generally  two  people  are  neces- 
sary in  making  a  weld,  and  each  may  use  his  hammer.  The 
welding  of  two  pieces  should  be  preceded  by  the  welding  of  the 
parts  of  a  bent  piece,  where  no  helper  is  needed. 

7.  HARDENING  and  TEMPERING  STEEL.  There  are  endless 
varieties  of  temper  for  different  grades  of  steel.  A  great  deal 
may  be  learned  from  lectures  and  a  judicious  series  of  exercises. 

We  have  found  it  exceedingly  profitable  to  teach  the  two 
arts,  of  holding  and  striking,  by  means  of  a  preliminary  exercise 
in  soft  metal,  generally  lead,  which  is  wrought  cold.  Just  how 
to  hold  and  how  to  strike  depends  upon  the  form  to  be  pro- 
duced, and  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  that  form  be 
clearly  in  the  mind  of  the  young  artist. 

The  teacher  first  gives  drawings  of  the  required  piece,  with 
all  necessary  dimensions.  He  next  names  the  tools  to  be  used 
and  the  order  in  which  the  steps  are  to  be  taken.  (This  order 
is  much  more  important  than  it  was  in  wood-work  the  first 
year.)  He  then  takes  the  steps  himself,  calling  attention  at  the 
same  time  to  his  manner  of  holding  and  of  striking.  His  piece 
is  compared  with  the  drawings  and  should  fairly  embody  the 
required  dimensions.  The  teacher  should  always  do  his  best 
work  in  the  presence  of  the  class. 

One  of  the  anvils  should  be  so  placed  that  one  or  two  semi- 
circles of  temporary  seats  may  be  ranged  around,  so  that  each 
pupil  may  see  and  hear  all  that  is  done  and  said. 

In  following  the  teacher's  lead,  the  pupils  have  a  clearly 
marked  course  before  them,  but  it  will  be  found  that  much 
deliberation  will  still  be  necessary.  A  hasty  blow,  or  a  wrong 
motion  to  the  piece,  results  in  malformation  or  serious  injury. 
Hence  the  pupil  must  think  the  matter  out,  and  strike  only  when 
his  mind  has  correctly  analyzed  the  problem,  and  foreseen  the 
results. 

This  shows  the  advantage  of  cold  lead  over  hot  iron :  with 
the  one,  the  mind  may  take  time  to  reason  out  the  how  and  the 
where  ;  with  the  other,  he  must  "  strike  while  the  iron  is  hot," 
though  with  fatal  indirection.  If  one  stops  to  think,  the  iron 
cools,  and  then  it  breaks  from  being  worked  at  a  low  tempera- 


Cliap.  HI.]      ENERGY    VS.    MOMENTUM  IN  A    HAMMER.  89 

ture ;  or  it  must  be  reheated,  at  the  expense  of  time,  and  a  surface 
layer  of  material  which  may  leave  the  piece  scant.  We  have 
found  that  the  use  of  lead  has  been  economical  in  three  ways : 
It  saves  time  in  the  end ;  it  saves  material  (the  lead  is  melted 
over  into  new  bars  with  little  loss)  ;  and  it  secures  more  accurate 
workmanship,  inasmuch  as  the  exact  form  is  better  under- 
stood. 

It  frequently  happens  even  in  light  work  that  a  heavy  hammer 
must  be  used.  A  heavy  hammer  moving  slowly  is  a  very  differ- 
ent thing  from  a  light  hammer  moving  rapidly,  even  when  they 
have  the  same  momentum ;  one 
may  tear  the  fiber  while  the 
other  does  not.  This  may  be 
admirably  illustrated  by  upset- 
ting the  hot  end  of  a  rod  which 
is  held  in  the  hand.  With  a 
light  hammer  and  a  quick  blow, 
the  upset  is  all  at  the  extreme 
end ;  with  a  heavier  hammer  and 
a  slower  blow,  the  upset  is  dis- 
tributed for  some  distance ;  with 
a  very  heavy  hammer  and  the 
same  momentum,  nothing  may  be  accomplished.  In  a  gen- 
eral way,  our  young  workman  must  test  this  point  and  know 
when  to  call  the  aid  of  another  student,  either  to  swing  the 
sledge  or  to  hold  while  he  wields  the  sledge  himself.  Two  or 
even  three  strikers  on  one  piece  may  at  times  work  to  advan- 
tage. 

The  following  series  of  exercises  has  been  adopted  as  serving 
the  double  purpose  of  bringing  out  the  several  processes,  and 
of  acquainting  the  pupils  with  the  more  usual  standard  forms. 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  many  are  to  be  wrought  in  lead 
to  exact  dimensions,  and  then  in  iron  or  steel  (sometimes  both) 
as  closely  as  possible.  The  dimensions  of  the  "  stock,"  or  raw 
material  furnished  the  pupils,  are  given  in  each  case. 

No.  1.  (Fig.  69.)  Bent  ring.  The  object  is  to  get  uniform 
curvature.  The  stock  is  |"  round  rod  of  a  length  equal  to  the 
circumference  of  a  circle  whose  diameter  is  2f ". 


90 


THE  SECOND,    OB  MIDDLE   YEAR. 


[Chap,  ITL 


No.  2.  (Fig.  70.)  Figure  eight.  Stock,  §"  round  rod.  This 
is  somewhat  more  difficult  than  the  last. 

No.  3.  (Fig:.  71.)  Ring  handle.  Stock,  f"  round  rod.  These 
first  exercises  give  practice  in  bending,  and  in  realizing  the 
length  of  bends.  Tho  very  simple  on  paper,  an  attempt  to 
produce  them  is  certain  to  develop  many  new  ideas. 


FIG.  70. 


FIG.  71. 


No.  4.  (Fig.  72.)  Square  piece  with  taper.  Stock, 
I"  round.  The  finished  No.  3  is  straightened  and  used  for  this 
exercise.  The  body  is  reduced  to  a  square  prism,  and  the  end 
to  a  pyramid.  This  is  the  first  step  in  drawing  out.  The  exer- 
cise should  first  be  executed  in  lead,  beginning  with  a  short 
rectangular  bar. 


FIG.  72. 


No.  o.  (Fig.  73.)  Hasp  and  staple.  The  stock  for  this 
hasp  is  exercise  No.  4.  One  end  is  reduced  to  a  cylinder  and 
bent  into  the  circular  head.  The  other  end  is  rounded,  drawn 
out,  and  bent.  The  body  of  the  shaft  is  then  heated  very 


Chap,  in.] 


EXERCISES  IN  FORGING. 


91 


hot,  the  ends  cooled  by  dipping  in  water,  and  then  grasped 
by  two  pairs  of  tongs  and  twisted  180°.  For  the -staple  use 
r  round. 


FIG.  73. 


JVo.  6'.  (Fig.  74.)  Flat  bend.  Stock,  V  X  i"  bar,  5f "  long. 
The  exterior  is  to  be  finished  sharp  and  square,  while  the  interior 
may  be  left  rounded  with  a  small  fillet.  The  material  is  to  be 
left  sound.  The  exercise  should  first  be  executed  in  lead. 


FIG.  74. 

No.  7.  (Fig.  75.)  Edge  bend.  The  stock  is  shown  in  the 
drawing.  The  inside  corner  is  very  hard  to  form  and  keep  the 
material  sound.  One  great  object  of  this  exercise  is  to  teach 
the  student  the  necessity  of  avoiding  this  operation  when 
strength  is  to  be  preserved.  It  is  much  easier  to  do  if  the 
outer  angle  is  left  rounded ;  and,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  it 
will  be  stronger  thus,  tho  deficient  in  breadth,  than  when 


92 


THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR. 


[Chap, 


reduced  to  the  exact  shape  of  the  drawing,  —  in  consequence  of 
the  inevitable  weakness  of  the  inside  corner.  The  exercise 
should  be  executed  first  in  lead. 

No.  8.    (Fig.  76.)    Upset  oval.      Stock,  J"  round,  5"  long. 

The  first  step  is  to  increase  the 
size  of  the  piece  in  the  center 
by  "upsetting."  Heat  the 
center,  cool  the  ends  quickly, 
place  the  piece  vertically  on 
the  anvil,  and  strike  heavy, 
square  blows  on  the  end. 
The  diameter  at  the  center 
should  be  increased  to  about 
f".  The  tapering  ends  re- 
quire great  delicacy  of  ham- 
FlG  75  mering  because  one  cannot 

use      the      swages.       Before 

punching  the  small  hole,  the  student  should  practise  at  punch- 
ing a  piece  of  plate  or  bar. 


FIG.  76. 


No.  9.  (Fig.  77.)  Upset  square.  Stock,  }"  round,  6J"  long. 
This  exercise  is  an  extension  of  the  last,  the  amount  of 
upsetting  being  greater.  The  production  of  straight  cylinders, 
true  with  the  axis  of  the  square  central  part,  is  difficult.  A 
preliminary  exercise  in  lead  is  very  instructive.  Instead  of  one 
of  the  cylinders,  it  may  be  well  to  form  a  rectangular  piece  with 
an  oblong  section.  The  swage  would  then  be  used  for  one  end, 
the  flatter  for  the  other. 


Chap,  m.] 


EXERCISES  IN  FORGING. 


No.  1O.  (Fig.  78.)  Fuller  piece.  Stock,  V  x  i"bar,  about 
6i'  long.  This  should  first  be  executed  in  lead.  By  no  other 
means  so  well  can  one's  judgment  as  to  quantity  of  material 
and  methods  of  manipulation  be  cultivated. 


FIG.  77. 


FIG.  78. 

No.  11.  (Fig.  79.)  Forged  fork.  Stock,  V  X  i"  bar. 
The  vertical  dimensions  are  omitted, 
it  being  impossible  for  an  inexperi- 
enced person  to  hit  them.  The  first 
operation  is  punching ;  the  second, 
splitting;  the  third,  fullering;  the 
fourth,  drawing ;  the  fifth,  finishing. 
The  exercise  is  very  difficult  and 
should  be  preceded  by  a  lead  exer- 
cise. Students  should  be  warned 
not  to  finish  the  small  ends  until  the 
last  thing,  as  they  may  otherwise  be 
spoiled  by  burning.  Later  on,  the 
student  may  attempt  to  construct  this 
fork,  by  welding  two  pieces  of  round 
rod.  When  he  has  fairly  tried  the 
two  methods,  he  may  have  an  opinion 
as  to  their  respective  advantages.  FIG.  79. 


94 


THE  SECOND,   OR  MIDDLE   YEAR. 


[Chap, 


No.  12.  (Fig.  80.)  Hook  hanger.  Stock,  1"  X  i"  bar. 
Execute  this  in  lead  to  begin  with.  The  length  of  the  hook  will 
be  a  surprise.  Flatten  and  punch  the  plate  end  before  bending 
the  hook.  The  exercise  is  not  as  difficult  as  it  appears  at  first. 


FIG.  80. 

No.  13.  (Fig.  81.)  Bent  brace.  Stock,  V  X  i"  bar.  This 
exercise  combines  the  features  of  Nos.  10  and  12.  If  a  particu- 
lar length  is  desired,  the  body  of  the  brace  should  be  left 
slightly  in  excess  and  then  drawn  as  required  for  the  finishing 
touch.  It  need  not  be  done  in  lead. 


FIG.  81. 


No.  14.  (Fig.  82.)  Plate  riveting.  The  stock  consists  of 
two  pieces  of  boiler-plate  5"  X  10"  with  six  equi-distant  holes 
drilled  in  each.  (This  drilling  should  be  carefully  done  by 
machine-shop  students.)  The  last  three  rivets,  at  least,  should 


Chap,  m,]  FIRST  ATTEMPT  AT    WELDING.  95 

be  well  put  in,  and  the  heads  should  be  smoothly  coned  without 
indenting  the  plates. 


FIG.  82. 


No.  15.  (Fig.  83.)  Log  chain  welding.  Stock,  f"  round 
rods,  about  9"  long.  This  is  the  first  attempt  at  welding,  and  a 
great  many  points  are  to  be  carefully  noted.  Above  all,  the  fire 
must  be  kept  clean  and  in  good  condition.  The  reader  is 


FIG.  83. 

referred  to  the  lecture  on  "  The  Care  of  the  Fire,"  which  comes 
a  few  pages  farther  on.  The  operation  of  "  scarfing  "  prepares 
the  two  ends  which  are  to  be  united  so  as  to  have  a  single  sur- 
face of  contact,  which  should  be  nearly  a  plane  oblique  to  the 
axes  of  the  ends.  A  shoulder  rarely  welds,  and  hence  is  a 
source  of  weakness.  Several  attempts  may  be  necessary  to 


96 


THE   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR. 


[Chap,  IIL 


make  the  first  weld.  The  third  link  should  be  well  done.  The 
welding  of  the  two  ends  of  one  piece  is  much  easier  than  the 
welding  of  two  separate  pieces. 

No.  16.    (Fig.  84.)    Ribbed  handle.     Stock,  a  |"  rod,  about 
30"  long.     The  rod  is  bent  back  and  forth  hot,  till  it  is  fourfold, 


FIG.  84. 

the  cross-section  being  four  tangent  circles  whose  centers  are  at 
the  vertices  of  a  square ;  then  the  ends  are  welded,  embracing  the 
parts  uniformly.  The  bundle  is  heated  to  a  red  heat,  and 

the  rods  bent  out  by  upsetting  the 
bundle.  Then  again  at  a  proper  heat, 
while  one  end  is  held  in  a  vise,  the 
other  end  is  turned  270°. 

No.  17.  (Fig.  85.)  Welded  eye. 
Stock,  i"  round  rod.  As  this  is  pre- 
liminary to  No.  18,  the  free  end  should 
be  long  enough  for  the  complete  hook. 
About  two  inches  of  the  end  is  drawn 
out  to  nearly  four  inches,  bent  round, 
and  welded  to  the  shoulder  on  the 
body  of  the  rod.  The  danger  of 
burning  is  so  great  that  one  should 
aim  at  f"  in  thickness  instead  of  i" 
as  the  drawing  shows.  The  exercise 
is  not  an  easy  one. 

No.  18.    (Fig.  86.)     Chain  hook. 
85  The   stock   is   furnished   by  No.  17. 

The  shaft  just  below  the  eye  is  to  be 
slightly  reduced.     The  drawing  shows  the  point  of  the  hook  a 


Chap.  Ill]  FORGING   EXERCISES.  97 

little  too  long.  For  the  sake  of  learning  the  length  of  the 
portion  required  for  the  hook,  as  well  as  the  effect  of  bending, 
it  is  well  to  execute  first  in  lead. 

No.  19.  The  welded  angle.  Stock,  two  V  X  J"  bars. 
This  exercise  shows  a  second  way  of  making  the  piece  shown  in 
Fig.  75,  No.  7.  The  scarfing  of  the  two  ends  should  give  them 
very  oblique  slopes  without  shoulders.  Tt  would  be  well  to 


FIQ.  86. 

practice  the  scarfing  on  two  pieces  of  lead.  With  a  good  weld, 
this  makes  a  much  stronger  piece  than  the  bent  angle.  The 
teacher  should  test  the  strength  of  Nos.  7  and  19  in  the  presence 
of  his  class. 

No.  2O.  A  straight  weld.  Stock,  two  pieces  of  rod  of 
equal  size.  When  finished,  the  piece  should  be  of  nearly  uni- 
form size  and  should  show  no  weld  marks.  This  exercise, 
like  the  last,  requires  two  people,  and  the  difficulty  of  bringing 
the  two  pieces  to  the  anvil  at  a  proper  heat  and  at  the  same 


98 


THE  SECOND,    OR  MIDDLE   YEAR. 


[Chap, 


time  is  one  which  must  be  met  to  be  appreciated.  As  welds 
are  more  or  less  imperfect,  it  may  be  well  to  leave  the  cross- 
section  a  little  large  at  the  welded  point. 

Nos.  21  and  22.  Bolt  heads.  There  are  two  ways  of 
making  a  bolt  by  hand,  and  this  exercise  should  be  double. 
One  way  is  to  use  a  square  rod  larger  than  the  body  of  the 
required  bolt,  draw  out  for  the  body,  and  upset  for  the  head. 
That  is  one  exercise. '  The  other  way  is  to  use  stock  of  the  size 
required  for  the  bolt,  cut  off  a  short  piece,  bend  it  into  the 
form  of  a  ring  round  one  end  (which  should  be  slightly  upset), 
and  then  weld  and  form  the  head.  The  second  way  is  by  far 
the  most  difficult.  It  is  exceedingly  hard  to  persuade  the 
head  to  rest  symmetrically  on  the  shaft  of  the  bolt. 

No.  23.  (Fig.  87.)  Crank  arm.  Stock,  1"  X  1"  bar.  The 
"  points "  of  this  exercise  are  good  shoulders  to  the  circular 
ends,  and  a  uniform  taper  to  the  sides  of  the  body  of  the  piece. 


FIG.  87. 


FIG.  88. 


No.  24.  (Fig.  88.)  Heavy  crank  arm.  Stock,  1J"  X  1" 
bar.  This  is  similar  to  the  last,  but  the  work  is  much  heavier. 
The  heavy  sledges  come  in  well  on  an  exercise  like  this ;  two 
or  three  men  may  well  work  on  one  piece. 


Chap,  III,] 


EXERCISES  IN  FORGING. 


99 


No.  25.  (Fig.  89.)  Blacksmith's  tongs.  Stock,  1"  X  1" 
bars,  about  6"  long.  The  exact  shape  of  these  parts  should 
first  be  produced  in  lead,  starting  with  stock  1"  X  1"  X  6".  It 


Fro.  89. 

is  only  when   every  detail   of  form,  holding,  and   striking  is 

clearly  in  the  mind  that  it  is  economy  to  start  on  the   iron. 

The  required  width  of  the 

jaw-opening  may  vary  with 

the  demands  of  the  forges. 

The  long  handles  may  be 

welded  on  before  the  jaws 

are   finished.     Each    class 

should    leave    the    forges 

well  furnished  with  tools 

for  the   next  year's  class. 

Good  tongs  are   evidence 

of  good  workmen. 

No.  26.  (Fig.  90.)  The 
dog.  Stock,  1'  round, 
about  4"  long.  The  hole 
is  first  punched,  and  then 
enlarged  by  splitting,  and 
working  over  a  mandrel. 
This  "dog"  is  to  be  subsequently  finished  in  the  machine-shop 
by  the  maker. 


FIG   90. 


100 


THE  SECOND,    OR  MIDDLE   YEAR. 


LChap.  Ill 


No.  27.  (Fig.  91.)  Cold  chisel.  Stock,  I"  octagonal  tool- 
steel.  In  forging  steel,  great  care  must  be  taken  not  to  burn 
the  piece.  Burnt  steel  is  worthless.  This  exercise  is  first  a 
uniform  draw  to  an  edge.  The  operation  of  TEMPERING  which 
is  to  follow  should  have  many  preliminary  illustrations  and 
exercises.  Every  student  should  temper  his 
chisel,  even  if  he  has  to  temper  it  several  times 
in  order  to  get  it  right. 


FIG.  91. 


FIG.  92. 


No.  28.  (Fig.  92.)  Threading  tool.  Stock, 
I"  X  I"  tool-steel.  This  tool,  and  the  five  which 
follow,  are  for  the  student's  own  use  next  year 
in  the  machine-shop.  They  furnish  good  exer- 
cises in  forging  and  tempering  steel,  as  well  as 
meet  the  demand  for  tools. 


FIG.  93. 


No.  29.    (Fig.  93.)     Round-nose  tool.       Stock,    J"    X     \" 
tool-steel.    Before  this  tool  is  used  in  the  lathe  the  working  end 


Chap,  HI,] 


FORGING   STEEL    TOOLS. 


101 


is  to  be  ground  to  a  semicircular  outline ;  it  should,  however, 
leave  the  anvil  with  square  corners. 


FIG.  94. 

No.  3O.     (Fig.  94.)     Side  tool.      Stock,   same    as   No.    29. 
First  execute  in  lead,  for  the  sake  of  getting  exact  dimensions. 


FIG.  95. 

No.  31.    (Fig.  95.)    Parting  tool. 
First  execute  in  lead. 


Stock,  same  as  the  last. 


FIG.  96. 


No.  32.  (Fig.  96.}  Diamond  point.  Stock,  the  same  as 
the  last.  First  execute  in  lead.  The  exact  shape  is  not  easy  to 
get  from  a  uniform  bar. 


102  THE  SECOND,    OR  MIDDLE    YEAR.  [Chap,  m. 

No.  33.    (Fig.  97.)     Inside  tool.     Stock,   the   same   as    for 
No.  32.     All  these  steel  tools  are  to  be  tempered. 


FIG.  97. 

No.  34.    (Fig:.  98.)    The  hardy.       Stock,   U"    X    U"   bar 

steel.     This  is   an   anvil   tool 
and  should  fit  the  anvil. 

No.  35.  (Fig.  99.)   The  set- 
hammer.     Stock,  1J"  x  li" 


FlG  98  bar  steel.     The  punching  and 

forming  the  large  hole  in  steel 

that  can  not  be  safely  heated  beyond  a  certain  point,  is  a  diffi- 
cult task  for  a  learner. 


Chap,  m.] 


FORGING   STEEL    TOOLS. 


103 


No.  36.  (Fig.  100.)  The  flatter.  Stock,  \\"  X  1J"  bar 
steel  The  face  of  the  tool  is  2'  square.  The  whole  job  is  a 
little  heavier  than  the  last. 


Fie.  100, 


FIG.  101. 


No.  37.  (Fig.  101.)  The  fuller.  Stock,  1J"  X  U"  bar 
steel.  This  exercise  is  not  unlike  No.  35  in  many  respects  and 
may  be  made  to 
take  its  place  ac- 
cording to  the  de- 
mands of  the  shop. 

No.  38.  (Fig. 
102.)  The  bottom 
swage.  Stock,  2" 
X  1"  bar  steel. 
This  is  the  heavi- 
est work  in  the 
shop  and  may  very 
properly  end  the 
series  of  exercises. 
The  shank  calls 
for  heavy  forging. 
The  groove  is  to  be  accurately  formed  by  a  steel  templet. 


FIG.  102. 


104  TUB   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE   YEAR.  [Chap,  in, 

The  last  five  exercises  furnish  tools  for  the  forging-shop 
itself.  It  is  obvious  that  one  finished  piece  may  very  properly 
serve  as  the  stock  for  another  slightly  smaller.  It  is  obvious 
also  that  for  a  difficult  process,  in  which  every  pupil  is  likely  to 
fail  for  the  first  attempt,  a  piece  of  scrap  or  a  small  trial  piece 
may  be  used.  For  instance,  no  one  succeeds  the  first  time  in 
making  a  welded  bolt-head  from  a  piece  of  round  rod ;  some 
never  succeed. 

In  difficult  processes,  quality  should  be  aimed  at  before 
quantity.  In  making  a  weld,  for  instance,  one  must  learn  the 
conditions  of  a  good  weld  before  any  attention  can  be  paid  to 
dimensions.  It  thus  appears  that  what  I  have  put  down  as  one 
exercise  may  in  reality  combine  several. 

The  process  of  tempering  is  a  very  delicate  one,  and  requires 
explicit  directions  and  full  illustrations.  The  teacher  should 
produce  in  the  presence  of  his  class  a  series  of  tempers  with 
different  colors  and  should  explain  and  illustrate  the  peculiar 
advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each. 

At  the  end  of  the  series  of  regular  exercises  in  a  shop,  one  or 
two  new  exercises  should  be  given  with  a  view  to  develop  the 
ingenuity  and  inventive  talent  of  the  pupils.  The  drawings 
should  show  the  finished  work,  and  no  clew  should  be  given  by 
the  teacher  as  to  how  the  work  is  to  be  done.  Every  boy 
should  be  required  to  think  out  and  put  down  in  writing  and 
illustrate  by  drawings:  (1)  the  order  of  the  steps,  (2)  the 
tools  to  be  used,  (3)  the  methods  of  work.  These  should  be 
carefully  examined,  criticised,  and  compared.  Good  points 
ought  to  be  fully  recognized  and  commended.  The  teacher 
should  then  select  or  arrange  the -best  course,  and  let  the 
project  be  executed. 

THE   MANAGEMENT    OF   THE   FIRE. 

I  have  thought  it  best  to  give  under  this  head  an  almost  ver- 
batim extract  from  the  instructions  given  by  our  accomplished 
teacher  of  forging,  Mr.  Charles  E.  Jones. 

Imagine  him  at  his  forge  in  the  center  of  a  semicircle  of 
interested  boys,  no  one  of  whom  has  yet  had  an  iron  in  the  fire. 

As  the  instruction  begins  and  goes  on  imagine  him  "  suiting 


Chap,  m,]  THE  MANAGEMENT  OF  THE  FIRE.  105 

the  action  to  the  word  "  with  a  force  and  fitness  which  Hamlet 
never  dreamed  of.  In  fact  the  eager  eyes  of  the  boys  follow 
what  he  does  as  their  ears  drink  in  what  he  says.  In  the  course 
of  his  short  lecture  he  shows  them  just  how  to  do  it,  as  well  as 
"  how  not  to  do  it."  Now  listen  and  watch  him  ! 

"  Before  lighting  the  fire  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
blast  orifice  —  also  to  the  blast  gate,  and  to  explain  how  to  use 
it.  I  shall  also  give  you  a  few  hints  upon  the  care  and  manage- 
ment of  the  fire. 

"  In  the  first  place  notice  the  position  of  the  blast  opening 
relative  to  the  forge,  for  it  is  immediately  over  the  blast  opening 
that  the  fire  is  hottest ;  it  is  at  this  point  we  wish  to  place  the 
work  to  be  heated,  that  is,  some  three  or  four  inches  above  and 
immediately  over  the  blast  opening." 

[Here  Mr.  Jones  places  the  kindling  and  coals,  and  lights 
the  fire.  He  turns  on  a  proper  blast  and  soon  has  a  mass  of 
glowing  coals.]  "  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  to  heat  the  work 
we  must  have  some  fuel  between  the  work  and  the  jet  of  air 
that  is  urging  the  fire.  Hence  we  must  not  put  the  iron  too 
low,  not  only  because  the  point  I  have  named  is  probably  the  hot- 
test part  of  the  fire,  and  consequently  will  heat  the  work  the 
quickest,  but  because,  as  the  fuel  burns  away,  the  cinder,  in  a 
liquid  state,  is  gradually  settling  to  the  bottom  of  the  shallow 
pit  in  which  the  fire  is  built ;  and  if  the  work  is  put  too  low  in 
the  fire,  it  becomes  coated  with  this  semi-vitreous  mass  which 
when  worked  on  the  anvil  is  driven  into  the  surface  of  the  iron. 
When  this  is  cooled  it  contracts  and  scales  off,  leaving  the 
surface  of  the  iron  deeply  pitted  with  the  appearance  of  being 
rust-eaten. 

"  The  fire  should  be  kept  as  small  as  will  possibly  heat  the 
work  in  hand ;  in  our  case  say  from  four  to  six  inches  in  diame- 
ter. This  is  accomplished  partly  by  packing  the  coal  as  hard 
as  possible  around  the  desired  size  of  fire,  and  partly  by  fre- 
quently sprinkling  around  the  fire  with  water  whenever  it 
shows  signs  of  spreading.  This  packing  of  the  coals  around  the 
fire  also  prevents  in  a  measure  a  wide  disturbance  of  the  fire 
whenever  the  work  is  thrust  into  it.  Some  disturbance  cannot 
be  avoided,  consequently  the  fire  should  always  be  repaired 


106  THK   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR.  [chap.  III. 

when  this  happens,  care  being  taken  not  to  throw  in  the  green 
coal  first,  but  those  portions  that  are  the  hottest;  this  is 
important,  particularly  as  the  work  approaches  a  high  tempera- 
ture, a  welding  heat  for  instance.  At  such  a  time  the  thrust- 
ing in  of  cold  fuel  cools  the  fire  and  sets  back  the  heat.  In 
these  forges  the  size  of  the  fire  is  in  part  regulated  by  the  ring 
of  fire  bricks  which  forms  a  sort  of  fire-pot  two  or  three  inches 
deep.  In  no  case  must  these  bricks  be  loosened  or  disturbed. 

"  In  this  connection  the  blast  also  plays  an  important  part. 
Greater  force  should  be  given  towards  the  end  of  the  heating, 
except  in  case  of  small  work,  where  a  uniform  amount  of  blast 
is  given,  graded  as  nicely  as  possible  to  the  size  of  the  fire. 
If  too  much  blast  is  given  and  the  fire  is  nice  and  clean,  the 
burning  coals  are  scattered  over  the  hearth ;  in  fact,  this  fre- 
quently happens,  particularly  just  after  the  fire  has  been  cleaned 
of  the  cinder. 

"  Sufficient  coal  should  always  be  kept  on  the  forge  to  keep 
up  the  embankment,  or  backing,  previously  spoken  of,  the  coal 
to  replenish  the  fire  being  drawn  up  from  the  edges  nearest  the 
fire  with  the  rake  or  shovel. 

"  I  should  also  explain  that,  as  the  blower  furnishes  a  uniform 
pressure  of  blast,  the  way  to  control  the  blast  to  suit  the  size 
of  fire  is  by  giving  the  blast-gate  a  greater  or  less  opening :  this, 
after  a  few  hours'  practice,  is  generally  pretty  well  understood. 
To  keep  the  fire  reasonably  small  is  much  more  difficult. 
When  told  to  sprinkle  it  you  will  often  overdo  it  to  such  an 
extent  as  to  put  out  the  fire  at  the  bottom,  leaving  only  a  layer 
of  live  coals  on  the  surface  ;  you  will  then  be  surprised  that 
your  iron  does  not  heat,  but  it  will  be  no  longer  a  mystery 
when  the  surface  coals  are  removed  and  it  is  seen  that  the 
work  lies  imbedded  in  damp  ashes  only.  I  must  here  explain 
that  the  only  means  we  have  of  ascertaining  when  the  work  is 
of  the  proper  heat,  is  by  withdrawing  it  from  the  fire  and  look- 
ing at  it,  quickly  replacing  it  if  not  of  the  proper  heat.  When 
it  is  withdrawn,  you  should  notice  if  it  is  being  heated  at  the 
proper  place ;  if  it  is  not,  then  push  farther  in,  or  not  so  far,  as 
the  case  may  be,  for  it  frequently  happens  that  the  cinder 
obstructs  or  deflects  the  blast  in  such  a  manner  that  the  hottest 


Chap,  in]   MR.    JONES   GIVES   A    PRACTICAL   EXERCISE.          107 

part  of  the  fire  is  not  where  we  naturally  look  for  it,  viz.  imme- 
diately over  the  tweer  opening.  You  must  therefore  keep  your 
eyes  open  and  your  wits  about  you  all  the  while. 

"  I  shall  teach  you  the  several  degrees  of  heat  we  shall  need, 
and  how  to  recognize  them  as  our  exercises  proceed. 

"  From  what  I  have  said  and  from  what  you  would  naturally 
expect,  we  shall  look  for  the  cinder  in  the  bottom  of  the  fire- 
pot,  the  hottest  coals  next  above,  and  the  half  incandescent  coals 
on  the  surface.  These  positions  suggest  the  method  of  cleaning 
the  fire.  By  cleaning  the  fire  I  mean  removing  the  cinder 
which  is  a  mass  of  ashes  and  incombustible  material  always 
found  more  or  less  in  coal.  This  refuse  melts  partially  and 
cakes  into  layers  which  must  be  removed  every  hour  or  two  so 
as  to  leave  the  fire  clean.  When  done  at  all  the  cleaning  should 
be  thoroughly  done,  as  follows :  — 

"  First  rake  away  the  half  incandescent  coal  into  a  pile  by 
itself.  Next,  draw  the  fully  glowing  incandescent  coals  into  a 
second  pile  just  beyond  the  edge  of  the  fire-pot.  Now  with  the 
shovel  quickly  cut  out  the  layer  of  cinder  and  throw  it  on  the 
cinder  pile  under  the  forge.  Then  carefully  draw  back  the  live 
coals  into  the  fire-pot,  keeping  them  together  as  much  as  possi- 
ble. Next,  draw  over  and  around  them  the  half  burning  coals 
and  put  on  the  blast.  Green  coals  may  now  be  packed  around 
and  sprinkled.  In  a  moment  you  have  a  clean  and  hot  fire." 

The  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  while  thus  describing  the 
process  Mr.  Jones  is  actually  going  through  it  in  a  skillful  and 
efficient  manner.  But  not  that  alone  :  the  next  step  is  for 
every  boy  to  go  to  his  individual  forge  and  go  through  the  same 
operations  himself  under  the  teacher's  eye.  A  single  glance 
tells  the  expert  whether  his  instructions  and  example  are  being 
followed  or  not,  and  a  few  extra  words  and  motions  suffice  to 
set  right  a  boy  who  has  forgotten  or  who  has  not  understood. 
No  boy  fails  to  be  interested  and  attentive,  though  some  fail  to 
comprehend  the  first  time. 

Fullness  of  explanation  and  illustration  is  not  peculiar  to  this 
exercise  ;  it  is  characteristic  of  every  exercise.  Ab  uno  disce 
omnes. 


108  THE  SECOND,    OR  MIDDLE    YEAR.  [chap,  UL 


SOLDERING   AND   BRAZING. 

As  already  explained  the  time  to  be  spent  in  molding  and 
pattern-making  may  properly  be  one-fourth  of  the  shop-time  of 
the  second  year,  a  maximum  of  one  hundred  hours,  making  no 
allowance  for  certain  exercises  in  soldering,  which  may  receive 
more  or  less  attention  according  to  the  facilities  for  that  work. 
In  the  St.  Louis  school  we  have  facilities  for  but  four  simul- 
taneous workmen  at  soldering,  and  only  miscellaneous  work  in 
that  direction  has  been  done.  The  principles  involved  can  be 
taught  in  two  or  three  lessons,  but  considerable  practice  would 
be  necessary  to  their  full  comprehension.  The  construction  of 
an  elbow  to  a  pipe,  or  an  oil-can  or  coffee-pot  suffices  to  test 
both  one's  knowledge  of  hard-soldering,  and  his  command  of 
the  subject  of  development  of  surfaces  in  drawing.  Brazing 
may  be  taught  in  a  lesson  or  two  in  the  forging-shop.  A  single 
exercise  in  brazing  two  pieces  of  iron  together  is  exceedingly 
instructive. 

The  three  divisions  of  a  class  may  very  naturally  take  up 
pattern-making  and  molding  in  succession. 

PATTERN-MAKING   AND   MOLDING.1 

Differing  from  the  practice  in  many  lines  of  work,  it  is  not 
usually  the  case  that  a  pattern-maker  is  furnished  with  drawings 
which  he  may  exactly  follow.  In  other  lines  one  is  given  a 
drawing  of  the  finished  piece,  and  he  is  expected  to  follow  it 
closely ;  in  the  case  of  pattern-making,  the  pattern  must  in  the 
majority  of  instances  have  a  shape  differing  from  that  shown  in 
the  drawing.  This  is  chiefly  because  of  the  requirements  and 
methods  of  the  foundry,  since  it  is  there  that  the  patterns  are 
used.  For  these  reasons  a  pattern-maker,  in  addition  to  skill  in 
the  use  of  his  special  tools  and  ability  to  read  drawings,  must 
be  able  to  make  the  modified  drawings  required  for  his  work; 
and  to  do  this  intelligently  he  must  understand  the  methods  of 
the  foundry. 

i  What  is  said  under  the  head  of  Pattern-Making  and  Molding  is  largely  the 
work  of  Mr.  Charles  F.  White,  the  Superintendent  of  Shop-work  in  the  St.  Louis 
Manual  Training  School. 


Chap,  HI.]  PRELIMINARY  FOUNDRY-WORK.  109 

Therefore  in  teaching  it  is  best  that  some  foundry-work  pre- 
cede pattern-making.  Unless  this  is  done  the  student  is  obliged 
to  do  a  great  deal  of  work  which  he  does  not  understand  the 
reasons  for  —  a  practice  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  a  manual  train- 
ing school.  It  may  be  remarked  that,  very  properly,  students 
wish  to  use  their  own  patterns  in  the  foundry  and  to  prove 
them  by  trial.  A  short  time  is  sufficient  for  this,  so  that  it  is 
best  to  divide  the  foundry-work,  giving  the  larger  share  before 
the  course  hi  pattern-making. 

We  therefore  begin  with  the 

Foundry-  Work. 

As  patterns  must  be  made  with  constant  reference  to  their 
use  in  molding  (that  is  the  forming  of  molds),  so  molds  must 
be  made  with  constant  reference  to  their  use  as  receptacles, 
capable  of  receiving  and  retaining  the  liquid  poured  into  them. 
Each  of  the  metals  used  in  foundry-work  has  characteristics  of 
its  own,  needing  special  treatment. 

Molds  for  most  work  are  made  of  moist  sand.  Into  these  is 
usually  poured  a  molten  metal  at  high  temperature.  There 
results  a  sudden  and  rapid  generation  of  steam,  hydrogen,  and 
other  gases.  These  gases  must  be  permitted  to  escape  readily 
or  the  resulting  pressure  will  force  the  metal  from  the  mold, 
which  mishap  is  called  "  blowing."  A  mold  must  possess 
sufficient  strength  and  firmness  to  resist  the  shocks  of  handling 
and  retain  shape  against  the  flow  and  pressure  of  the  liquid ; 
moisture  and  close  compact  or  ramming  secure  this.  On  the 
other  hand,  porosity  for  the  escape  of  gases  is  equally  needful ; 
dryness  arid  light  compact  secure  this.  Excess  of  moisture 
causes  excessive  gas  production,  calling  for  extra  porosity. 
Judgment  in  properly  balancing  these  opposing  conditions  is 
an  essential  part  of  the  foundry-man's  skill. 

Sand  of  the  quality  known  as  molding-sand  possesses  in  a 
large  degree  the  desirable  elements  of  porosity  and  of  cohesion 
when  moderately  moist. 

The  receptacle  which  holds  both  pattern  and  sand  is  called 
the  "flask"  In  its  simplest  form  a  flask  may  be  described  as  a 
pair  of  boxes  of  similar  shape  and  size,  but  without  top  or  bot- 


110 


THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR. 


[Chap,  HI. 


torn.  These  boxes  are  prevented  from  separating  horizontally 
by  suitable  pins,  which  however  permit  ready  separation  verti- 
cally. Two  flat  boards  as  wide  as  the  flask  complete  the 
apparatus.  The  lower  part  of  the  flask  is  called  the  "  drag  ;  " 
the  upper  part  is  called  the  "cope"  The  drag  rests  on  the 
bottom-board.  The  other  board,  called  the  mold-board,  is  used 
at  an  earlier  stage  and  is  laid  aside. 


FIG.  103.     A  SIMPLE  FLASK. 


Fig.  103  shows  the  cope,  drag,  and  the  bottom-board.  The 
small  pieces  of  metal  shown  at  a,  6,  and  c  are  of  malleable  iron. 
They  may  be  readily  found  in  the  market. 

Flasks  are  made  either  of  wood  or  iron,  and  are  of  almost  as 
many  shapes  and  proportions  as  there  are  forms  to  be  molded. 
As  a  rule  the  drag  is  seldom  disturbed  after  the  pattern  has 
been  removed  from  the  sand  (drawn).  The  cope  on  the  con- 
trary must  usually  be  moved,  and  hence  the  sand  it  contains 
must  receive  its  support  from  the  sides  instead  of  from  under- 
neath. As  a  consequence,  all  copes  of  large  area  compared  with 


Chap,  III]          THE   OUTFIT   OF  THE  MOLDING-ROOM. 


Ill 


their  depth  must  contain  partition  bars  or  ribs,  numerous  enough 
to  sustain  the  sand.  These  bars  must  be  shaped  so  as  to 
approach  without  touching  the  pattern,  and  have  beveled 
edges  next  the  pattern  to  permit  uniform  ramming.  Besides 
these  bars,  pieces  of  wood  ("  soldiers  "),  L  shaped  pieces  of  iron 
("  gaggers  "),  spikes,  nails,  and  brads  are  used  to  assist  in  hold- 
ing the  sand  in  place.  The  inside  of  the  cope,  the  bars,  the  ends 
of  the  soldiers,  gaggers,  etc., 
are  usually  clay- washed  to 
make  the  sand  adhere  better. 
The  tools  needed  for  a 
school  outfit  may  be  limited 
to  the  following  :  — 
A  small  shovel. 
A  12-inch  brass  wire  sieve 
or  riddle  i-inch  mesh. 

A  molder's  trowel,  1"X  4". 
A  i-inch  lifter. 
A  draw-spike,  i"  diameter 
by  6"  long  (see  Fig.  104). 

A  large  draw-spike,  f"  di- 
ameter by  8"  long. 

These  draw-spikes  should  be  made  of  round  tool-steel  drawn 
to  a  long,  square  point. 

A  vent-wire  (Fig.  105)  consisting  of  a  stout  knitting-needle 
six  or  eight  inches  long  inserted  in  an  awl  handle. 

A  couple  of  rammers  (Fig.  106), 
one  1£  inches  in  diameter,  the  other 
3  inches. 

A  half-pint  tin  can  (Fig.  107)  with 
perforated  top  for  sprinkling  parting- 
sand. 

The  above  are  needed  by  each  pupil. 
A  six -quart  sprinkling  -  can  will 
suffice  for  four  or  five  pupils.  Simi- 
larly, a  six-quart  milk-pail  (with  strainer  removed  from  the 
spout)  will  be  needed  if  plaster  be  used  to  fill  the  molds. 

Several  conical  wooden  plugs  (Fig.  108),  a  straight  edge,  a 


FIG.  104. 


FIG.  105. 


FIG.  106. 


FIG.  107. 


FIG.  108. 


112 


THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR. 


[Chap.  Ill, 


FIG.  109. 


small  sponge,  and  a  piece  of  tin  two  or  three  inches  square  bent 
as  shown  in  Fig.  109  will  be  needed  by  each  pupil  as  a  gate- 
cutter. 

Parting-sand  may  be  any  fine  powder 
which  has  very  little  cohesion,  whether 
wet  or  dry.  A  coating  of  such  sand  be- 
tween two  layers  of  molding  sand  will 
permit  the  latter  to  separate  (part) 
readily.  A  mixture  of  burned  sand  and 
oxide  of  iron  obtained  from  the  "  tum- 
bling-box "  of  a  foundry  is  much  used 
for  parting-sand. 

The  large  number  of  tools  used  by  practical  molders  in 
repairing  and  finishing  molds  are  not  necessary  to  our  work, 
and  are  hence  omitted. 

The  molding-benches  should  be  trough-shaped,  not  less  than 
12  inches  deep  by  20  inches  wide  at  the  top.  A  section  of  a 
double  bench  is  shown  in 
Fig.  110.  The  ledges  in 
the  troughs  are  continu- 
ous ;  they  support  cross- 
sticks  and  boards.  The 
benches  should  be  strong- 
ly built  and  in  rows  al- 
lowing at  least  five  feet  of 
length  to  each  pupil.  It 
is  well  to  allow  the  backs 
and  partitions  to  come 
up  high  enough  to  give 
places  for  hanging  the 
small  tools,  and  to  keep 
sand  from  being  thrown 
into  neighboring  benches  in  the  action  of  shoveling  or  ramming. 

Cores  and  Core-making. 

In  many  cast  forms  it  is  necessary  to  produce  holes  or  interior 
cavities.  This  is  done  by  placing  in  the  mold  something  which 
shall  occupy  the  space  which  the  liquid  is  not  to  fill.  This 


T 


L 


•  f 


FIG.  110.    A  MOLDING-BENCH. 


Chap,  III.] 


CORES   AND   CORE-PRINTS. 


113 


something  must  be  removable  after  the  cast  is  made,  and  there 
must  be  at  least  one  opening  for  the  removal.  That  which  is 
so  placed  in  the  mold  is  called  a  "  core."  The  meaning  of  the 
word  is  also  extended  so  as  to  include  additions  to  the  mold 
outside  the  space  to  be  filled  by  the  liquid  where  the  core  is  to 
be  supported,  or  where  an  additional  cavity  is  required  in  order 
to  make  a  small  projection  to  the  main  body  of  the  casting. 
Those  exterior  parts  of  the  mold  which  are  to  be  filled  by  the 
cores  or  core-ends  are  called  " core-prints" 

Fig.  Ill  gives  a  vertical  section  of  a  mold  ready  for  pouring. 
The  parts  of  the  pattern  have  been  "  drawn  ;  "  a  central  core  c 


cope 


FIG.  ill.    SECTION  OF  A  FLASK,  MOLD,  CORES,  ETC. 

is  shown  extending  at  top  and  bottom  into  the  core-prints  made 
for  it;  there  is  also  an  external  core,  <?,  having  a  cavity  in 
itself  which  is  to  contain  a  sort  of  horn  to  tjie  main  casting. 
If  the  pattern  of  the  horn  had  been  put  on  the  main  pattern  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  get  the  pattern  out  of  the  mold, 
but  by  the  use  of  the  core  it  becomes  easy.  The  cope,  drag, 
and  bottom-board  are  shown  in  position ;  the  plugs  have  been 
drawn  from  the  pouring-gate  6r,  and  the  riser  jK,  and  fine  wire 
holes  have  been  made  to  the  points  v,  v  to  allow  the  gases  to 
escape. 

Cores  are  made  of  a   mixture  of  sand  and  some  adhesive 
matter.      Usually  a   little  flour  is   mixed  with  the  core-sand. 


114  THE   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR.  [Chap.  III. 

This  when  moistened  forms  paste,  and  when  dry  or  baked  makes 
a  firm  block.  Powdered  rosin  when  heated  in  the  baking  will 
also  fasten  the  sand.  Cores  must  be  porous,  and  hence  they  are 
usually  made  of  a  coarser  sand  than  the  regular  mold.  A 
mixture  of  half  molding  and  half  river  sand  is  suitable  for 
most  work.  If  melted  metal  is  to  be  poured  into  the  mold  the 
cores  must  be  well  baked  and  provided  with  passages  (vents) 
for  the  escape  of  gas,  leading  out  at  the  ends.  If  plaster  is 
used  venting  is  not  necessary  and  cores  need  be  baked  only 
when  they  are  of  \veak  or  delicate  shape.  Most  shapes  require 
internal  wires  or  rods  to  insure  strength,  particularly  before 
baking. 

Cores  are  made  by  ramming  the  mixture  above  described  into 
boxes  which  internally  have  the  shapes  wanted,  and  are  called 
"  core-boxes."  These  will  be  described  later.  The  sand  should 
not  be  so  moist  as  to  cause  sticking  to  the  sides  of  the  box. 
If  it  can  be  easily  passed  through  a  I"  sieve  it  will  not  be  too 
moist.  In  ramming  the  cores  use  a  small  rammer,  preferably 
an  iron  rod,  keeping  an  excess  of  sand  in  the  box  and  avoid- 
ing the  formation  of  layers,  which  are  always  weak.  Strength- 
ening wires  are  to  be  placed  in  the  boxes  and  the  sand  rammed 
around  them.  Until  dried  they  should  be  handled  as  little  as 
possible  and  be  carried  on  small  iron  or  tin  plates. 

In  ordinary  foundry  practice,  cores  are  all  prepared  by  a 
core-maker,  the  molder  having  nothing  to  do  with  their  design 
or  construction.  In  school-work,  however,  it  is  best  to  have 
the  cores  prepared  by  the  pupils  themselves.  This  being  done 
the  next  step  is 

Molding. 

We  will  follow  the  steps  of  molding  the  form  shown  in  Fig. 
Ill,  assuming  the  pattern  to  be  in  two  parts  divided  at  the 
parting-line.  The  first  completed  step  is  shown  in  Fig.  112. 

The  mold-board  was  laid  on  the  cross-sticks  and  the  drag 
placed  upon  it  bottom  up.  The  lower  portion  of  the  pattern 
was  then  laid  on  the  mold-board.  The  molding-sand  is  now 
sifted  into  the  drag  and  rammed  around  the  pattern,  care  being 
taken  to  have  plenty  of  sand,  to  ram  uniformly,  and  to  avoid 


Chap.  Ill] 


MAKING   A   MOLD. 


115 


layers.     When  somewhat  more  than  full,  the  upper  surface  is 
scraped  off  with  a  straight  edge,  and  the  bottom-board  laid  on. 


drag 


FIG.  112.    LOWER  HALF  OF  PATTERN  IN  DRAG. 

Now  comes  the  second  step.  The  whole  is  carefully  turned 
over  and  the  mold-board  is  laid  aside.  The  upper  part  of  the 
pattern  is  now  laid  in  place,  guided  by  the  little  pins,  and  the 
cope  is  put  on,  guided  by  its  plates,  over  the  pins  on  the  drag. 
A  thin  layer  of  parting-sand  is  dusted  over  the  whole.  A 
runner  plug  which  molds  a  passage  for  pouring  is  set  up  near 
the  pattern,  and  the  sand  is  filled  in  and  rammed,  a  riser  plug 


FIG.  113.    PATTERNS  IN  POSITION  IN  THE  SAND. 

being  put  on  the  highest  part  of  the  pattern  but  not  on  the 
core-print.  When  the  packing  is  finished,  the  appearance  will 
be  as  in  Fig.  113,  which  shows  step  No.  2  completed,  a  is  the 
runner,  and  b  is  the  riser. 


116  THE   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR.  [chap.  III. 

The  runner  and  riser  are  now  drawn  out ;  the  cope  is  gently 
lifted  off,  turned  over,  and  laid  on  the  mold-board.  A  draw- 
spike  is  driven  into  the  pattern  in  the  drag,  and  the  pattern  is 
loosened  by  gentle  raps  on  the  spike  as  it  is  held  by  the  left 
hand.  The  pattern  is  then  lifted  out  of  the  mold,  technically 
drawn,  by  the  spike.  A  gate  is  now  cut  from  the  lower  end 
of  the  runner  to  the  mold,  using  a  gate-cutter  (Fig.  109).  The 
pattern  in  the  cope  is  now  treated  in  the  same  way,  and 
drawn.  The  cores  are  next  placed  in  the  mold,  and  the  cope 
being  replaced  the  liquid  is  poured  in,  filling  the  mold  as  in 
Fig.  111. 

If  molds  are  poured  with  plaster  it  will  be  found  necessary 
to  have  the  runners,  gates,  and  risers  of  ample  size,  as  after 
the  mold  is  filled  the  shrinkage  must  be  supplied  through  the 
riser.  The  plaster  may  be  kept  from  setting  by  gently  churning 
a  rod  up  and  down  in  the  riser. 

In  preparing  the  plaster  for  pouring,  use  three  parts  of 
water  to  two  parts  of  plaster,  and  stir  well  while  the  plaster 
is  added.  When  about  like  cream  in  consistency,  pour  rapidly 
into  the  mold.  Small  metal  castings  can  be  taken  from  the 
molds  in  a  few  minutes.  Plaster  castings  can  be  taken  out 
with  care  in  fifteen  to  thirty  minutes,  according  to  the  state  of 
the  plaster  when  poured,  the  longer  time  being  needed  for 
plaster  poured  thin.  Partly-set  plaster  must  never  be  mixed 
with  fresh  plaster.  Mix  anew  every  time. 

Cores  in  iron  castings  have  the  paste  material  so  burned  as  to 
be  friable  and  come  out  easily.  With  lead  and  light  alloys 
cores  are  hard  to  get  out,  being  simply  hard-baked  not  scorched. 
With  wet  plaster  the  cores  are  so  softened  that  they  come  out 
easily,  though  sometimes  stout  crooked  wires  must  be  left. 
Plaster  castings  may  be  cleansed  by  washing,  and  when  dry  by 
a  stiff  brush. 

In  the  example  given,  the  pattern  had  been  conveniently 
divided  so  as  to  give  a  flat  or  plane  parting  to  the  mold.  But 
partings  are  often  of  other  shapes,  sometimes  quite  irregular, 
and  cut  with  tools  in  the  sand.  This  will  be  well  illustrated 
by  the  method  used  to  mold  a  sheave  or  pulley  for  a  rope. 
Such  a  pattern  is  made  in  halves  divided  across  the  axis.  The 


Chap.  Ill] 


MOLDING  A    GROOVED   PULLEY. 


117 


steps  of  the  operation  are  simple  and  easy  enough  ;  the  diffi- 
culty lies  in  thinking  out  the  process. 


FIG.  114.    HALF  OF  GROOVED  PULLEY  PATTERN  IN  DRAG. 

In  1,  Fig.  114,  we  have  half  the  pattern  in  the  drag  in  the  usual 
Avay.  In  2,  Fig.  115,  we  have  the  drag  rolled  over  and  an 
annular  crater  made  all  around  the  pattern,  the  outer  slope 


FIG.  115.    SHOWING  CONICAL  PARTING. 


being  as  gentle  and  smooth  as  possible,  the  inner  slope  being 
formed  by  the  pattern  itself.  Parting-sand  is  now  sprinkled 
on  both  sides  of  the  excavation. 


FIG.  116.    MOLDING  A  RING  OF  SAND  IN  THE  GROOVE. 

In  3,  Fig.  116,  we  have  a  mound  of  sand  well  rammed  cover- 
ing the  upper  half  of  the  pattern  and  filling  the   crater,  but 


118 


THE   SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE    YEAR. 


[Chap.  HI. 


separated  from  the  drag  by  the  parting-sand.  The  mound  is 
now  cut  down  to  a  ring  around  the  sheave,  the  upper  slope 
being  symmetrical  with  the  lower,  and  left  smooth.  The  cope 
is  now  placed  in  position,  parting-sand  is  sprinkled  on  the  ring, 
the  cope,  runners,  risers,  etc.,  are  put  in  place,  and  the  cope  is 
rammed  full  of  sand,  as  shown  in  4,  Fig.  117. 

There  are  now  three  separate  bodies  of  sand  in  the  flask : 
first,  that  in  the  main  part  of  the  drag ;  second,  that  in  the  ring 
which  fits  into  the  groove  in  the  pattern ;  third,  the  main  part 
in  the  cope. 

The  next  operation,  of  drawing  the  pattern,  is  a  delicate  one. 
Lift  the  cope,  letting  the  upper  half  of  the  pattern  come  with 

it.  The  cope  is  turned 
over,  the  pattern  drawn 
from  it,  and  the  cope 
is  replaced  on  the  drag. 
The  entire  flask  is  now 
turned  over  and  the 
drag  is  lifted  off.  The 
ring  of  sand  now  rests 
on  the  sand  in  the  cope. 
The  other  half  of  the 
pattern  is  now  re- 
moved, the  core  is  in- 
serted into  the  " print" 
in  the  cope,  the  gate  is  cut  in  the  drag  (around  the  crater  left 
for  the  ring  and  not  shown  in  the  drawing),  the  drag  is  in- 
verted and  placed  on  the  cope,  and  finally  the  entire  flask  is 
inverted  and  the  mold  is  poured. 

The  rationale  of  all  this  may  not  appear  to  the  novice  on  the 
mere  reading,  but  it  will  be  clear  enough  when  the  directions 
are  taken  step  by  step  in  the  laboratory. 

The  teacher  should  begin  with  simple  forms,  then  proceed  to 
examples  like  those  given  above.  He  will  readily  see  what 
intermediate  steps  are  necessary,  and  will  see  his  way  to  mold- 
ing gradually  the  parts  of  an  engine,  and  certain  details  of 
architecture. 


FIG.  117.  SECTION  OP  FLASK,  PATTERN,  ETC. 


Chap.  III.]        ALLOWANCES  FOR  DRAFT,   FINISH,   ETC.  119 

The  pioneer  class  of  a  school  may  find  it  necessary  to  take 
some  pattern-making  before  molding,  in  order  that  patterns 
may  be  ready  for  use  in  the  molding-room.  This  will  however 
soon  cure  itself.  To  a  great  extent  the  method  of  uniform 
lessons  should  be  followed,  and  the  pupils  must  not  try  to  run 
till  they  have  learned  to  walk.  Complicated  foliage  forms  and 
the  use  of  wax  for  making  plaster  molds  are  not  recommended. 

Pattern-Making. 

Assuming  that  the  use  to  which  a  foundry  pattern  is  to  be 
put  is  understood,  the  first  consideration  is  that  of  "draft." 
Draft  is  a  modification  in  the  form  of  a  pattern  for  the  purpose 
of  making  it  possible  to  withdraw  the  parts  of  the  pattern 
from  the  molding-sand  which  has  been  compactly  rammed 
about  them.  Hence  all  pieces  which  are  molded  must  be 
made  tapering  so  that  they  may  be  taken  from  the  sand  with- 
out breaking  or  disturbing  it.  Many  forms  from  their  natural 
shape  are  readily  drawn  from  the  molding  -  sand,  but  the 
majority  require  special  adaptation. 

A  second  consideration  is  the  allowance  made  to  permit 
finish  in  shops  subsequent  to  the  foundry. 

As  a  rule  cast  forms  are  only  approximately  correct  in  shape. 
The  exact  form  of  the  finished  piece  is  contained  in  the  piece  as 
cast,  as  the  statue  is  in  the  rough-hewn  block  of  marble,  and 
the  aim  is  to  have  just  enough  excess  of  material  to  permit  of 
a  true  and  economic  finish. 

In  some  branches  of  work,  —  stove-work  for  example,  —  the 
working  patterns  are  of  iron,  and  the  cast-work  approximates 
very  closely  to  the  required  dimensions. 

In  a  manual  training  school,  pupils  may  form  some  idea  of 
what  is  practicable  in  ordinary  casting.  Of  the  location  and 
amount  of  the  extra  material  to  be  removed  in  finishing,  the 
pattern-maker  must  be  informed. 

A  third  consideration  is  that  of  allowance  for  shrinkage  of 
the  casting. 

Allowance  for  draft  varies  with  circumstances,  but  a  fail- 
average  for  minimum  draft  may  be  taken  as  \"  iu  a  foot,  or 
1  in  96. 


120 


THE  SECOND,    OR  MIDDLE   YEAR. 


[Chap.  Ill, 


Allowance  for  finish  varies  greatly,  but  for  surfaces  likely  to 
be  cast  true  and  sound  Ty  may  be  taken  as  enough. 

Shrinkage  is  also  a  variable  quantity  depending  on  the  metal 
and  upon  the  form  of  the  casting.  Pattern-makers'  rules  are 
made  12J"  standard  to  the  foot  and  graduated  proportionally ; 
hence  1  in  96  may  be  assumed  as  an  average  allowance  for 
shrinkage. 

These  allowances  are  all  to  be  added  to   external   dimen- 


sions. 


For  example :   suppose  a   casting   be   required   suited   to  a 
finished  block  24"  X  18"  X  6". 


FIG.  118.    ALLOWANCES  IN  THE  SIZE  OP  PATTERNS. 


The  pattern  is  to  be  molded  flat  side  down.     See  Fig.  118. 

Nothing  need  be  added  to  a±  and  b1  for  draft,  but  each  is  to 
be  increased  by  -^  of  itself,  for  shrinkage,  and  each  face  is 
to  have  -^  of  an  inch  for  finish.  The  dimensions  of  the 
base  will  then  be :  av  =  24  -}-  ^  +  A  +  A  —  ^f  incnes?  and 
*i  =  18  +  \\  +  J?  +  TV  =  18T6e  inches.  ' 

Similarly  the  thickness  is  to  be  cx  —  6  +  96e  4~  iV  +  iV  =  ^ T36  • 
The  dimensions  of  the  top  are  to  be  increased  still  more  for 
draft.  As  the  block  is  a  half  a  foot  thick,  the  allowance  on 
each  side  should  be  J  of  J  —  ^g  inch,  so  that  j  of  an  inch  more 
is  to  be  added  to  each  dimension  of  the  top,  which  is  therefore 
*2  X  62  =  241"  X  18-jV'. 


Chap,  in.]  TREATMENT   OF   WOOD   IN  PATTERNS.  121 

Thus  we  see  that  tho  we  want  a  plain  rectangular  block 
24"  X  18"  X  6",  the  pattern  is  the  frustum  of  a  regular  pyra- 
mid, one  base  being  24£"  X  18^",  and  the  other  24f "  +  18&", 
and  the  thickness  6-^g.  This  example  will  suffice  to  show  how 
the  main  dimensions  of  the  pattern  are  to  differ  from  those 
of  the  required  piece  when  finished. 

Very  small  details  are  often  wholly  covered  up  in  tlie  pattern. 

The  rapping  of  small  patterns  will  frequently  enlarge  the 
dimensions  of  a  mold  by  -£%  of  an  inch  or  more,  so  that  pieces 
less  than  about  6"  in  length  really  need  no  allowance  for 
shrinking,  and  hence  the  saying  for  such  work :  "  Rappage  will 
equal  shrinkage." 

The  wood  used  for  patterns  should  be  straight  grained  and 
thoroughly  seasoned. 

Hard  woods  are  often  used  on  fine  and  delicate  patterns,  but 
pine  is  most  used  for  general  work. 

It  is  best  in  arranging  a  pattern  to  have  the  grain  of  the 
several  pieces  run  parallel.  Shrinking  (in  the  pattern  itself, 
on  account  of  drying)  then  takes  place  in  the  same  direction  on 
each  piece,  and  the  pattern  holds  together.  If  the  grains  are 
placed  transversely,  the  tendency  is  for  the  shrinking  to  tear 
the  joints  apart,  and  to  cause  irregularities  in  surfaces  that 
ought  to  be  free  from  them. 

Thus,  if  in  Fig.  119  the  sloping  sides  be  finished  smooth  at 
first,  after  a  time  they  will  take  the  shape  shown,  the  top  piece 
becoming  narrower  while  the  lower 
one  retains  its  length,  an  irregu- 
larity that  would  destroy  the  draft. 

In  spite  of  waterproof  varnish, 
continued  use  loosens  glue ;  hence 
dependence  must  not  be  put  on 

glue ;  it  should  be  supplemented  with  nails  or  screws.  All 
gluing  should  be  done  very  neatly,  leaving  none  on  outside 
surfaces.  Wire  nails  now  so  generally  used  are  by  far  the  best 
for  pattern-work. 

As  a  general  thing  even  in  small  work  it  will  be  found  better 
to  produce  a  given  shape  by  building  up  rather  than  by  cutting 
out  from  the  solid.  To  illustrate  :  Suppose  a  pattern  wanted 


122  THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE   YEAR.  [Chap,  m, 

of  the  form  shown  in  Fig.  120.  It  is  possible  by  sufficient  care 
and  skill  to  produce  it  from  a  solid  block,  but  it  would  involve 
working  out  the  channel,  keeping  the  sides  and  bottom  true  and 
at  the  proper  angles.  Moreover,  the  finish  with  sand-paper 
before  and  after  varnishing  would  be  difficult.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  a  bevel  be  set  at  the  angle  suitable  for  the  draft,  a 
piece  for  the  body  and  single  pieces  for  the  two  ribs  may  be 
prepared  with  a  plane.  These  pieces  can  be  easily  sand-papered 
and  varnished  in  detail  with  no  internal  corners  to  reach,  and 
when  ready  they  may  be  put  together  with  a  few  nails.  With 
a  given  degree  of  skill  a  much  more  accurate  pattern  will  be 


FIG.  120.    BUILDING  UP  PATTERNS. 


the  result.  The  point  of  finishing  parts  in  detail  before  nailing 
up  into  shapes  hard  to  secure  in  any  other  way  is  well  worth 
bearing  in  mind. 

Patterns  are  necessarily  exposed  to  dampness  and  should  be 
well  protected  against  it.  One  of  the  best  means  is  thorough 
varnishing  with  shellac  varnish.  After  the  pattern  is  smoothly 
finished,  the  first  application  of  varnish  raises  the  little  filaments 
that  have  been  rubbed  down.  When  dry  these  filaments  are 
brittle  and  the  surface  is  rough :  light  sand-papering  will  break 
off  the  fibers  and  prepare  the  surface  for  a  second  coat  of 
varnish.  Four  or  five  such  coats  are  usually  sufficient.  It  is 
customary  to  use  black  varnish  on  the  main  parts  of  fine 
patterns,  and  light  varnish  on  the  core-prints,  which  gives  an 
excellent  appearance.  The  best  light  varnish  is  made  by  dis- 


Chap.  Ill,] 


DIVIDING  P ATT E 


123 


solving  gum  shellac  (orange  or  white)  in  grain  alcohol,  no 
special  proportions  being  required.  For  black  varnish,  stir 
lamp-black  into  the  light  varnish.  A  much  cheaper  varnish,  is 
made  by  using  in  the  same  way  wood  alcohol  instead  of  grain 
alcohol,  for  light  color,  but  lamp-black  causes  this  to  curdle ; 
hence  it  is  unfit  for  the  black  varnish. 

From  what  has  been  shown  under  the  head  of  molding,  it 
will  be  seen  that  it  is  desirable  to  have  a  pattern  divide  or  sepa- 
rate at  the  plane  of  "  parting."  The  parts  are  held  in  proper 
relation  to  each  other  by  two  or  more  pins  fitting  in  corre- 
sponding holes.  The  pins  should  both  be  in  the  same  part,  and 
in  the  one  which  should  be  molded  in  the  cope.  The  pins  should 
fit  snugly,  but  not  bind  in  the  least.  They  should  be  put  in 
square  with  the  parting.plane,  and  be  short  with  rounded  ends. 


FIG.  121.    SUBDIVISION  OF  A  PATTERN. 

The  only  general  rule  about  deciding  where  to  divide  is  that 
it  is  desirable  to  have  each  part  remain  in  its  place  until  rapped 
and  drawn  with  the  drawspike.  Sometimes  it  is  best  to  have 
more  than  one  separation  in  the  pattern  even  if  there  be  but 
one  parting  in  the  flask.  This  is  the  case  where  the  pattern  is 
deep  and  safe  rapping  is  difficult.  This  is  illustrated  in  Fig. 
121,  which  shows  a  separation  between  the  deep  rib  and  the 
broad  top.  The  rib  is  to  be  rapped  and  drawn  after  the  broad 
part  over  it  has  been  removed. 

In  the  case  of  an  external  core,  we  make  the  "  print "  and 
core  of  the  easiest  shape  to  mold,  according  to  the  situation. 
Core-prints  must  be  long  enough  to  ensure  supports  to  the 
weight  of  the  core  without  crushing  the  sand.  Core-prints 
that  go  into  the  drag  of  a  flask  are  made  as  straight  as  possible, 
since  they  hold  and  sustain  the  core  during  the  closing  of  the 
flask.  Those  that  go  in  the  cope  should  have  a  more  decided 


124  THE  SECOND,    OR   MIDDLE   YEAR.  [chap.  III. 

taper  to  ensure  proper  closing,  even  if  slightly  out  of  line  at 
first.  The  pins  and  sockets  of  the  flask  itself  should  have  a 
perfectly  easy  but  snug  fit. 

Cases  sometimes  occur  in  which  it  is  desirable  to  have  a 
small  projecting  piece  on  a  pattern  at  a  place  where,  if  attached 
to  the  main  portion  of  the  pattern,  it  would  render  drawing 
impossible.  In  many  such  cases  the  projection  is  made  separate 
and  attached  to  the  main  part  with  pins  or  dove-tails,  so  that 
the  main  part  may  be  drawn  first,  and  the  projection  may  then 
be  drawn  horizontally  into  the  hole  left  by  the  body  of  the 
pattern.  A  pin  may  project  into  the  sand  and  be  drawn  from 
the  sand  after  the  ramming  of  sand  has  been  partly  done.  This 
is  really  forming  a  secondary  parting,  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
principle  may  be  extended  indefinitely. 

Sharp  corners  on  patterns  should  be  avoided  whenever  it  is 
possible  to  do  so.  External  angles  should  be  rounded  off,  and 
internal  corners  should  be  filled  with  a  small,  quarter-circle 
outline,  technically  called  a  fillet.  Strength  of  form  and  ease  of 
molding  demand  this. 

When  possible,  fillets  should  be  of  solid  wood,  but  in  many 
places  wax  is  a  very  good  substitute  and  is  more  easily  applied. 
The  wax  should  be  worked  into  fine  rolls  between  two  boards 
which  are  slightly  warmed.  These  rolls  are  laid  along  the  cor- 
ners to  be  filled,  and  forced  evenly  into  their  places  by  a  round- 
ended  tool  of  iron  or  steel  which  has  previously  been  warmed 
just  enough  to  make  the  wax  yield  readily  to  its  touch.  In  a 
similar  way,  accidental  holes  in  the  patterns  may  be  filled. 

Core-Boxes. 

From  what  has  been  said  of  core-making,  it  will  be  understood 
that  a  core-box  ought  to  be  made  with  a  view  to  getting  the 
core  out  with  the  least  strain  on  it.  It  is  far  best  to  remove 
the  box  from  the  core,  instead  of  the  core  from  the  box.  This 
rather  obscure  remark  may  best  be  understood  by  considering 
the  case  of  a  rectangular  core.  If  a  box  with  a  mere  cover 
were  made,  draft  would  be  necessary  to  make  it  possible  to  get 
the  core  out,  and  then  with  danger  of  breaking.  Hence  the 
box  is  made  open  at  two  opposite  ends  or  sides,  as  shown  in 


Chap,  HI,] 


DIVIDING   A    CORE-BOX. 


125 


.7. 


Fig.  122.  The  box  is  divided  along  the  zig-zag  line  JJ,  while 
the  upper  and  lower  ends  are  open.  The  halves  are  clamped 
together,  and  the  box  is  placed  on  end  on  a  flat  piece  of  sheet 
iron  or  tin,  and  then  remains  in  that  position  while  the  core  is 
rammed.  The  box  is  then  undamped  and  the  parts  are  drawn 
apart,  as  shown  by  the  arrows,  leaving  the  core  standing  on 
the  plate.  It  may  then  be 
carried  to  the  baking  -oven 
with  small  danger  of  break- 
ing. This  method  of  making 
boxes  should  be  applied  to 
all  forms.  Cylindrical  cores 
should  be  left  standing  on 
their  ends. 

Very  often  a  core  may  be 
made  in  halves  and  pasted 
together.  In  such  cases  a  half-box  and  the  plate  will  suffice. 

The  building-up  method  should  always  be  followed  in  making 
core-boxes,  from  the  difficulty  of  executing  accurate  hollow 
forms,  and  for  convenience  in  separating.  The  inner  surfaces 
of  core-boxes  should  be  protected  with  shellac  varnish,  as 
described  above  for  patterns. 


FlG-  122'  HOKIAZ™TC^ECTION  °P  B°X 


126  THE   THIRD,    OB    SENIOR    YEAR.  [chap.  IV, 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    THIRD,    OR    SENIOR    YEAR. 

T~  IKE  other  schools  the  Manual  .Training  School  suffers  a 
J--^  loss  of  students  as  the  classes  progress  in  their  course  ;  but 
unlike  most  it  holds  a  majority  to  the  end.  Hence  our  divisions 
will  be  smaller,  but  we  shall  still  keep  them  three  in  number.1 
I  shall  put  the  maximum  in  each  division  at  twenty.  It  will  be 
observed  that  I  make  no  provision  for  an  instructor  assistant  to 
the  teacher  of  a  division.  In  this  respect  I  differ  from  excellent 
educators.  It  is  proper  that  I  should  give  the  reasons  for  my 
preference. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  the  presence  of  an  assistant  in  the  care 
of    a   single    division    involves    indirect   responsibility,    which 
should  always  be  avoided  if  possible.     It  is  impossible  to  define 
the  respective  duties  of  principal  and  assistant.    To  define  them 
clearly  would  be  to  subdivide  the  section. 

2.  The  teacher  who  with  an  assistant  has  charge  of  a  division 
of  thirty  or  forty  boys  is  much  less  sure  of  his  ground  than 
the  teacher  with  twenty  under  his  sole  direction.     He  can  not 
know  where  they  are,  what  they  are  doing,  what   difficulties 
they  are  meeting,  what  difficulties  they  have  met  and  overcome, 
nor  just  what  suggestion  or  help  they  need,  when  he  has  not 
personally  seen  both  their  work  and  their  working. 

3.  He  who  has  given    the  class  directions  and   personally 
illustrated  the  method  is  the  only  person  competent  to  criticise 
those  who  attempt  to  follow   those  directions.     An  assistant 
may  come   pretty  near  him,  but  there  is  always  a  sense  of 
uncertainty,  and  the  opportunities  for  honest,  but  unfortunate, 
differences  of  opinion  are  greatly  increased. 

1  See  page  11  in  regard  to  attendance. 


Chap,  IV.]  OBJECTIONS    TO   A    CLASS   ASSISTANT.  127 

I  grant  that  if  a  division  is  to  scatter,  and,  like  the  brothers 
Curatii,  to  string  themselves  out  in  Indian  file  over  the  whole 
series  of  exercises,  or  over  the  whole  range  of  practical  work 
which  the  shop  may  unwisely  and  prematurely  undertake,  —  I 
grant  that  under  such  circumstances  an  assistant,  or  even 
several  assistants  may  be  necessary.  As  the  class  scatters, 
and  becomes  a  sort  of  go-as-you-please,  every-man-for-himself 
collection  of  individuals,  all  of  the  characteristics  of  a  school 
disappear,  and  class-methods  are  at  an  end,  and  very  few  pupils 
can  be  instructed  in  new  work  by  one  teacher.  I  was  very 
sorry  to  observe  this  state  of  things  in  several  otherwise  excel- 
lent European  schools,  and  I  learn  that  it  is  always  character- 
istic of  the  Swedish  "  Slojd  "  schools.  [See  Chapter  XIV.]  The 
aim  appeared  to  be  to  get  through  with  a  particular  series  of 
exercises  as  soon  as  possible.  The  rapid  workers  (not  neces- 
sarily the  best)  soon  distanced  their  fellows,  and  worked  on  in 
virtual  independence.  They  completely  lost  the  wholesome 
effect  of  class  comparison  and  criticism  in  which  good  and  bad 
points  should  be  made  prominent,  and  where  what  Dr.  Harris 
calls  the  "  leverage  of  the  class  "  should  be  utilized  to  its  full 
extent  to  stimulate  individual  intelligence. 

So  also  if  a  shop  takes  orders  and  manufactures  for  the  mar- 
ket, there  should  be  several  assistants  who  are  at  the  same  time 
workmen  standing  ready  to  do  those  parts  which  can  not  be 
left  to  the  uncertain  hands  of  untrained  lads. 

I  think  that  no  competent  teacher  would  wish  to  have  an 
assistant  in  teaching  a  division  in  algebra,  or  Latin,  or  English 
composition,  or  drawing.  If  the  division  were  too  large  for  one 
teacher,  he  would  subdivide  it  and  place  the  assistant  in  direct 
charge  of  one  part.  Perhaps  I  have  just  Italicized  the  word 
which  explains  the  whole  matter.  If  the  person  who  lectures 
and  gives  general  directions  to  a  class  is  unable  to  properly 
supervise  the  practical  working  of  the  class,  then  certainly  it  is 
better  for  him  to  have  an  assistant ;  and  I  would  advise  him  to 
take  his  place  at  the  bench,  anvil  or  lathe,  and  acquire  some 
primitive  ideas. 

The  class  program  is  arranged  as  easily  as  before,  there  being 
three  teachers  and  three  rooms  (including  the  shop). 


128 


THE   THIRD,    OR   SENIOR    YEAR. 


[Chap,  IV, 


DAILY  PROGRAM. 


DIVIS- 
ION. 

9—10.             10—11. 

11—12. 

18—1. 

1—2. 

2—3. 

3-,. 

I. 

Machine-Shop. 

Geome- 
try. 

History 
and 
Literature 
or 
Modern 
Language. 

a 

0 

1 

•2 

Science. 

Drawing. 

11. 

History 
and 
Literature 
or 
Modern 
Language. 

Geometry. 

Machine-Shop. 

Drawing. 

Science. 

III. 

Geometry. 

History 
and 
Literature 
or 
Modern 
Language. 

Science. 

Drawing. 

Machine-Shop. 

I  have  assumed  that  the  teacher  of  drawing  is  also  the  teacher 
of  geometry.  Of  course  this  is  not  at  all  necessary,  tho  I  think 
it  desirable.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  teacher  of  draw- 
ing for  another  class  would  also  be  the  teacher  of  drawing  for 
this  class,  there  being  a  compensating  change  in  either  the 
physical  or  mathematical  teacher.  This  would  of  course  obviate 
the  necessity  of  fitting  up  a  drawing  room  for  this  class  alone. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  easy  to  find  competent  drawing 
teachers  among  teachers  otherwise  well  educated.  This  de- 
ficiency will  disappear  as  graduates  of  manual  training  and  the 
higher  technical  schools  become  more  numerous.1 

The  mathematics  should  include  the  usual  books  of  element- 
ary and  solid  geometry,  and  enough  of  plane  trigonometry  and 
logarithms  to  lead  to  a  rational  study  of  mensuration.  Teachers 
of  mathematics  should  beware  of  trying  to  cover  too  much 
ground.  It  is  riot  how  much,  but  hoiv  well,  that  determines  the 
character  and  value  of  one's  mathematical  training.  I  have 
noticed  with  regret  that  teachers  of  secondary  schools,  particu- 

1  In  point  of  fact  in  the  St.  Louis  School  there  are  four  divisions  in  the  Junior, 
four  in  the  Middle,  and  three  in  the  Senior  Class,  eleven  in  all,  furnishing  suffi- 
cient work  for  two  teachers  devoted  exclusively  to  drawing.  The  two  drawing 
rooms  are  used  exclusively  as  such. 


Chap, IV,]  UNDUE  HASTE  IN  MATHEMATICS.  129 

larly  in  the  West,  have  been  inclined  to  push  their  pupils  pre- 
maturely into  the  study  of  analytical  geometry  and  even  the 
calculus.  The  inutility,  nay  the  harmfulness  of  such  efforts 
has  been  only  too  evident.  At  best,  the  pupils  get  only  a  very 
shallow  notion  of  those  vast  subjects,  and  no  adequate  concep- 
tion of  the  uses  to  which  they  may  be  put ;  while  on  the  other 
hand,  they  often  get  the  impression,  that  their  understanding 
of  such  subjects  is  about  on  a  par  with  the  attainments  of  a 
well-taught  mathematician,  and  that  their  inability  to  see  any 
practical  use  in  such  studies  is  sufficient  proof  that  there  is 
no  real  practical  need  of  such  studies  to  practical  men.  No 
result  more  fatal  to  high  scholarship  and  successful  engineering 
could  be  found.  A  student  knows  his  algebra  only  when  he  is 
so  familiar  with  its  various  operations  and  methods  of  application, 
that  it  comes  as  naturally  into  his  hands  as  an  instrument  of 
investigation  as  does  his  arithmetic  or  the  principles  of  physics. 
It  is  the  same  with  geometry,  which  is  not  so  much  a  col- 
lection of  facts  about  geometrical  figures  and  solids,  as  the 
embodiment  of  methods  of  reasoning  which  are  of  the  first 
importance  to  every  reasoner.  Unless  a  student  can  readily 
block  out  the  steps  in  the  argument  without  the  conscious  use 
of  a  word,  he  can  not  be  said  to  know  geometry.  When  a  class 
is  hurried  through  the  subject,  not,  as  is  often  said,  for  the 
purpose  of  becoming  experts,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  broad 
culture  that -is  supposed  to  result,  it  fails.  Neither  skill  nor 
culture  results ;  it  is  only  a  shallow  conceit  and  a  misappre- 
hension of  the  whole  matter.  Such  people  are  without  the 
training  necessary  to  just  appreciation  of  either  sound  learning 
or  high  culture.1 

1  An  eminent  mathematician  and  professor  of  jngineering  recently  told  me 
that  while  in  a  city  high  school  he  was  put  through  a  whole  range  of  college 
mathematics.  As  should  have  been  expected,  he  attained  to  no  comprehension  of 
the  subjects,  and  decided  that  he  had  no  mathematical  capacity.  Of  course  he 
hated  mathematics  with  all  his  heart.  History  however  was  his  delight.  Later 
he  went  to  a  higher  institution,  where  the  course  was  thorough,  and  again  he  went 
over. the  whole  course  of  pure  and  applied  mathematics  with  a  mind  properly 
matured.  It  was  a  revelation  to  him.  Instead  of  having  no  mathematical  ability, 
he  found  he  had  abilities  of  a  high  order.  He  is  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the 
time  spent  in  the  high  school  on  the  higher  mathematics  (beyond  geometry  and 
algebra)  is  worse  than  wasted. 


130  THE   THIRD,    OR    SENIOR    YEAR.  [Chap.  IV, 

The  science  study  of  the  Senior  year  should  embrace  practi- 
cal and  some  theoretical  chemistry,  physiology,  and  some  of 
the  principles  of  book-keeping.  The  comparative  inutility  of 
chemistry  without  a  working  laboratory  was  long  ago  shown. 
No  laboratory  work  has  been  more  thoroughly  worked  out  than 
that  of  chemistry.  In  nearly  all  European  and  English  schools 
of  secondary  grade,  chemistry  is  admirably  provided  for.  A 
laboratory  accommodating  twenty  pupils  simultaneously  is  really 
an  essential  feature  of  a  manual  training  school.  The  details 
of  such  a  laboratory  are  easy  to  find. 

Book-keeping  is  introduced,  not  for  the  purpose  of  making 
book-keepers,  but  for  showing  how  very  simple  book-keeping  is 
when  its  principles  are  clearly  seen.  There  are  countless  good 
ways  of  keeping  books,  adapted  to  a  great  variety  of  conditions, 
and  all  are  perfectly  intelligible  to  a  well-taught  person,  who 
understands  a  few  simple  propositions. 

The  language  study  may  be  quite  varied  in  the  different 
sections  of  the  class.  Some  will  certainly  want  a  year's  study 
of  French  or  German,  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of 
institutions  of  higher  education  to  which  many  of  the  boys  are 
looking  forward.  Such  boys  should  in  common  with  all  the 
rest  of  the  class  devote  one  day  each  week  to  the  study  and 
practice  of  English  composition.  The  students  are  now  at  the 
age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  years,  and  are  capable  of  appre- 
ciating style,  and  of  beginning  to  form  styles  for  themselves. 
Nothing  but  a  persistent  study  of  the  styles  of  good  writers, 
and  a  conscious  attempt  to  imitate  them,  will  lead  to  the  habit 
of  writing  clearly,  purely,  and  concisely.1  The  principles  of 
political  economy  treated  in  a  very  elementary  way  may  here 
be  studied  with  great  interest  and  profit. 

The  principles  of  civics  should  be  quite  fully  considered  in 
connection  with  something  like  the  following  scheme.  I  doubt 
very  much  the  use  of  a  class  text-book  on  this  subject.  A  good 
teacher  can  easily  lead  his  class  into  a  very  thoughtful  study 

1  A  chapter  of  Buckle;  a  lecture  of  Tyndall;  a  poem  of  Longfellow's;  a  letter 
of  Junius;  a  play  of  Shakespere;  a  life  from  Smiles;  will  go  far  in  showing  what 
really  good  English  is.  Above  all,  avoid  the  stilted  style  of  Irving's  West- 
minster Abhey,  and  the  extravaganzas  of  Carlyle  and  Ruskin. 


Chap.  IV.]  THE  DUTIES    OF  CITIZENSHIP.  131 

of  the  subject ;    and  the  joint  preparation  of   a  syllabus  will 
develop  more  interest  and  make  a  deeper  impression  than  any 
mere  text-book,  however  skillfully  written. 
I  suggest  a  course  somewhat  like  this :  — 

1.  A  careful  analysis  of  our  scheme  of  government,  national, 
state,  and  municipal,  with  a  general  statement  of  the  functions 
of  each.     If  this  statement  is  re-made  and  re-arranged  and  re- 
illustrated  with  every  new  class,  the  teacher  may  be  sure  of  a 
lively  and  fresh  interest.     Fine  distinctions  and   exact  limits 
must  be  omitted. 

2.  The  necessary  expenses  of  each  of  the  governments,  with  a 
detail  of  the  institutions  which  must  be  supported  by  taxation. 

3.  The  various   methods   of  levying  and   collecting  taxes   in 
actual  use. 

4.  The  duties  of  citizenship,  such  as,  — 

(a)  The  maintenance  of  individual  independence,  by  earning 
one's  own  living. 

(6)  The  contribution  of  one's  share  by  taxes  to  the  necessary 
expenses  of  government. 

(<?)  A  prompt  and  active  participation  in  all  measures  neces- 
sary to  secure  the  selection  of  faithful  and  competent  public 
servants  to  discharge  the  duties  of  legislation  and  government ; 
i.e.,  to  elect  good  legislators  and  officers. 

(d)  The   cultivation  of  a  proper  public  opinion  in  favor  of 
honesty,  temperance,  and  the  refinements  of  civilized  life. 

(e)  The  contribution  of  something,  small  or  great,  to  the 
common  weal,  beyond  the  duties  in  (#),  (6),  and  (<?),  whereby 
the  world  may  actually  be  the  better  for  one's  having  lived 
in  it. 

If  a  teacher  does  no  more  than  to  discuss  these  points  with 
his  class  (a  few  other  points  might  come  in,  tho  I  would  be 
careful  not  to  attempt  too  much),  say  twice  a  week  for  ten 
weeks,  and  at  the  end  arrange  and  print  a  syllabus  covering  all 
the  ground  gone  over,  and  leave  a  copy  in  the  hands  of  each 
pupil,  he  would  do  a  most  useful  work,  and  about  all  it  is  wise 
to  undertake  in  a  school  of  secondary  grade.  The  rest  of  the 
language  allowance  of  time  may  be  devoted  to  general  history 
and  the  study  of  Grecian  mythology. 


132  THE   THIRD,    OR   SENIOR    YEAR.  [dhap,  IV, 


DRAWING. 

The  drawing  takes  on  this  year  a  more  finished  shape.  For 
the  first  time  in  their  course,  the  students  are  prepared  to 
appreciate  and  profit  by  a  course  of  purely  geometrical  draw- 
ing. The  object  of  this  is  not  to  commit  to  memory  solutions 
of  particular  problems,  or  to  dispense  with  T-square  and  tri- 
angles, but  to  get  some  adequate  idea  of  instrumental  accuracy, 
and  a  ready  command  of  methods  of  close  approximation.  The 
teacher  should,  however,  avoid  giving,  as  exact,  a  method  which 
is  after  all  only  approximate.  In  an  absolutely  exact  method, 
the  closer  the  method  is  followed,  the  more  nearly  exact  will 
be  the  result ;  if  the  method  be  only  approximate,  the  reverse 
result  is  possible. 

Line  and  brush  shading  of  geometrical  forms  (spheres,  cones, 
cylinders,  etc.),  with  the  outlines  of  simple,  easily  formed  shad- 
ows, prepares  for  the  drawing  and  shading  of  forms  based  on 
the  geometric,  in  architectural  and  machine  drawing.  A  certain 
amount  of  pen  and  ink  sketching,  first  from  copies  (to  get 
command  of  the  style)  and  then  from  objects,  greatly  increases 
one's  ability  to  make  a  rapid,  freehand  drawing  (projection  or 
"pictorial,"  as  may  be  best  suited  to  the  case).  In  this  work 
the  student  should  aim  at  a  faultless  style  of  freehand  sketch- 
ing from  actual  examination  and  measurement.  If  possible 
these  sketches  should  be  done  well  the  first  time,  i.e.  the  student 
should  not  make  poor  sketches  with  the  expectation  of  copying 
them  "  in  style  "  at  his  leisure.  The  first  sketches  should  be 
as  nearly  perfect  as  possible ;  a  second  set  made  from  them 
would  have  little  value  except  to  show  how  the  first  should 
have  been  made. 

A  finished,  shaded  drawing  of  some  structure  or  working 
machine  with  full  details  is  intended  to  finish  the  course  and  to 
embody  nearly  all  that  the  student  has  learned  in  drawing.  It 
should  include  some  tracing  or  drawing  with  ink  on  cloth. 
The  chief  drawing  should  be  of  large  size,  and  all  the  work 
should  be  clean  and  exact.  The  lettering  and  border  should 
be  carefully  done,  and  in  a  style  to  suit  the  drawing.  This 
work  completes  the  year.  It  may  be  objected  that  instead  of 


Chap,  IV.]  ARTISTIC   CULTURE  NOT  AIMED  AT.  133 

making  such  an  elaborate  drawing  the  student  should  confine 
himself  to  details  in  the  usual  unshaded  style,  as  in  practice 
the  finished  drawing  is  rarely  used.  My  answer  is  that  one's 
school  training  should  always  go  far  beyond  the  demands  of 
ordinary  practice  in  order  to  give  that  sense  of  mastership 
which  comes  from  an  acquaintance  with  a  larger  field  than  that 
in  which  work  is  actually  done.  One  who  has  once  finished  a 
drawing,  has  not  only  a  high  ideal,  but  he  has  acquired  a  cer- 
tain judgment  of  what  constitutes  appropriateness  in  a  drawing. 
The  only  thing  I  would  discourage  in  drawing  is  the  practice 
of  methods  which  appear  to  be  purely  arbitrary,  for  which 
no  reasons  are  given,  or  which  are  so  dependent  on  descrip- 
tive geometry,  as  not  to  be  within  the  reach  of  elementary 
students. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  nowhere  do  we  aim  specifically  at 
artistic  culture.  The  students  are  not  taught  to  prefer  inac- 
curacy to  accuracy  because  one  is  made  freehand,  the  other 
with  the  aid  of  instruments.  To  be  sure,  the  inaccurate  draw- 
ings may  involve  more  skill  than  the  accurate  one,  and  no  one 
is  more  ready  to  appreciate  that  than  our  students,  and  in  so 
far  as  a  drawing  gives  pleasure  by  containing  evidence  of  skill, 
they  are  reasonably  quick  in  their  appreciation.  A  drawing 
whose  object  is  to  give  pleasure  may  do  so  in  three  ways :  1,  by 
being  intrinsically  true,  harmonious,  and  graceful ;  and  2d, 
by  its  display  of  skill  in  its  approximations ;  and  3d,  by  a  judi- 
cious use  of  conventionalities. 

I  claim  that  the  students  who  have  completed  the  course  I 
have  laid  down  have  an  admirable  foundation  for  artistic  study 
should  they  care  to  cultivate  it. 

THE   THIRD-YEAR    SHOP-WORK. 

The  shop  arrangements  for  the  third  year  are  by  far  the 
most  elaborate  and  expensive  of  all  the  school  apparatus,  and 
they  will  often  be  beyond  the  means  of  many  institutions  which 
can  readily  furnish  the  wood-working  shops.  Moreover,  the 
equipment  of  the  "  Machine  -Shop "  will  be  likely  to  vary 
widely  from  various  causes.  It  will  scarcely  be  possible  to 
maintain  rigidly  uniform  and  simultaneous  exercises. 


134  THE   THIRD,    OR   SENIOR    YEAR.  [Chap,  IV. 

An  engraving  of  a  portion  of  our  machine-shop,  taken  from  a 
photograph,  is  shown  in  Fig.  123. 

The  kinds  of  tools  which  are  regarded  as  typical  in  char- 
acter are :  — 

The  machinist's  vise,  heavy  and  strong. 

The  machinist's  hammer,  and  cold  chisel,  and  a  set  of  three 
files.1 

The  engine  lathe,  the  speed  lathe,  the  planer,  the  shaper,  the 
drill-press,  an  emery  grinder,  a  grindstone,  and  a  forge  for 
dressing  and  tempering  tools. 

There  are  various  excellent  patterns  of  tools,  and  there  is 
a  great  range  of  prices.  The  tools  which  our  experience  of 
from  four  to  eight  years  with  several  different  kinds  leads  me 
to  commend  are  as  follows,  with  an  approximation  to  their 
cost :  — 

Engine  Lathe,  14   inch  swing,  5  ft.  bed,  made  by  the 

Putnam  Machine  Co.,  Fitchburg,  Mass.      .         .         .  $250 

Planer,  21"  —  21"  —  60",  by  same  company        .         .         .  400 

Gooseneck  Drill,  25-inch,  by  same  company       .         .         .  365 

The  Shaper 350 

Speed  Lathe,  with  short  iron  bed,  from      .         .         .         .   50  to  80 

A  Post  Drill 40 

The  present  equipment  of  the  St.  Louis  school  contains  six- 
teen engine  lathes,  six  speed  lathes,2  two  drills,  one  planer,  one 
shaper,  two  emery-grinders,  two  grindstones,  a  gas-forge,  and 
about  a  dozen  vises. 

The  gas-forge  being  in  use  only  occasionally,  needs  no  flue. 
The  air-blast,  which  in  the  St.  Louis  school  is  furnished  by  a 
Westinghouse  brake  apparatus,  may  be  produced  by  a  foot  or 
hand  blower,  or  by  a  connection  with  the  forging-shop  blast. 

THE  CHARACTER   OF   THE  TOOL   INSTRUCTION. 

The  students  have  thus  far  had  no  experience  with  metals 
beyond  that  gained  in  the  forging-shop  where  heat  was  the 

1  The  cold  chisels  and  perhaps  the  hammers  may  have  been  made  during  the 
second  year  by  the  students  themselves. 

2  Two  of  these  speed  lathes  have  been  made  by  the  third-year  class  during  the 
present  year.    The  details  are  simple,  and  with  care  the  boys  have  been  able  to 
produce  some  very  good  work. 


Chap  IV,] 


A    SCHOOL   MACHINE-SHOP. 


135 


136  THE   THIRD,    OR   SENIOR    YEAR.  [Chap,  IV. 

influence  which  rendered  the  stubborn  metal  tractable  and 
subservient  to  the  hammer.  Very  little  was  attempted  with- 
out heat ;  it  was  the  universal  solvent. 

Now,  however,  the  metals  must  be  wrought  cold.  They  are 
to  be  cut  with  the  chisel  and  file,  to  be  planed,  to  be  turned, 
to  be  drilled,  —  in  fact,  they  are  to  submit  to  processes  very 
similar  to  those  in  use  in  the  wood-working  shop ;  but  the 
tools  are  to  be  peculiar,  and  the  methods  altogether  new  to 
the  boys. 

The  steel  tools  must  be  strong,  well-tempered,  forged  and 
ground  to  specified  shapes,  and  correctly  adjusted.  A  failure 
in  any  one  of  these  respects  is  a  complete  failure. 

In  the  following  sketch  of  the  functions  of  the  different  tools, 
and  the  exercises  by  which  those  functions  are  taught,  no 
attempt  is  made  at  exhausting  the  subject.  What  I  shall  say 
will  be  of  value,  not  to  the  teacher  who  should  be  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  theory  and  the  use  of  every  machine,  but  to 
the  students  themselves  and  to  parents  and  supervising  officers 
in  giving  a  clue  to  the  extent  and  variety  of  the  exercises. 

I  shall  take  up  the  tools  in  a  logical  order,  though  it  will 
readily  be  seen  that  there  may  be  great  variety  in  practice. 

'Speed  Lathes. 

1.  Speed  lathes,  or  "hand"  lathes,  are  used  for:  (a)  Cen- 
tering, (6)  Hand-tooling,  (c)  Polishing. 

(a)  Centering  consists  in  pricking,  drilling,  and  counter- 
sinking holes  in  the  ends  of  a  cylindrical  piece  of  metal  so  that 
it  may  be  firmly  supported  on  the  taper  centers  of  the  lathe. 
If  the  piece  is  irregular,  pricks  are  made  by  a  punch  as  accu- 
rately as  possible,  and  then  the  piece  is  put  into  the  lathe  and 
turned  by  hand.  If  the  adjustment  is  bad,  the  side  too  far 
out  is  readily  found  by  letting  it  rub  a  bit  of  chalk  as  it  re- 
volves. New  pricks  are  then  made  till  centers  sufficiently  exact 
are  found.  The  pricked  holes  are  then  drilled  out  by  a  I  inch 
drill  to  a  depth  of  about  three-eighths  of  an  inch,  the  drill  being 
held  by  a  chuck  in  the  lathe,  and  the  piece  held  by  the  hand 
against  the  tail  center.  The  holes  are  counter-sunk  by  a  similar 
method,  the  counter-sink  having  the  same  taper  angle  as  the 


Chap.  IV,]  THE   OPERATIONS   OF  LATHES.  137 

lathe  centers.  The  holes  are  deep  enough  to  escape  the  points 
themselves. 

Centered  pieces  when  put  in  a  lathe  are  driven  by  means  of 
a  "  dog."  A  "  dog  "  is  a  ring  of  metal  large  enough  to  fit  over 
the  end  of  the  centered  piece,  with  a  set-screw  on  one  side  by 
means  of  which  it  grips  it  firmly,  while  on  the  other  side  it 
has  a  bent  arm  which  bends  back  into  a  face  plate  which  is 
screwed  to  the  spindle.  The  face  plate  drives  this  arm  (or 
tail)  of  the  dog,  which  in  turn  carries  round  the  piece. 

(6)  Hand-tooling  consists  of  shaping  a  piece  in  a  lathe  by 
means  of  tools  held  in  the  hands.  It  may  have  been  partially 
shaped  by  machine-held  tools.  The  tools  necessarily  have  long 
handles,  and  are  generally  either  files,  the  "  round-nose,"  or  the 
"  square-jawed  "  tools.  It  is  plain  that  a  great  variety  of  tools 
may  be  used.  Formerly  a  great  deal  of  work  was  done  by 
hand-held  tools.  As  a  rule,  spherical,  and  conoidal  surfaces, 
with  free  outlines,  are  turned  by  hand ;  cylinders  and  cones  are 
turned  by  machine-held  tools.  See  exercises  Nos.  2  and  4. 

(c)  Polishing  is  a  process  by  which  surfaces  are  made 
bright  and  smooth,  or  by  which  they  are  given  a  "  finish."  It 
is  usually  done  with  loose  emery  powder  and  oil  applied  with 
a  fine  stick  held  in  the  hands,  or  by  .emery  cloth  and  oil,  the 
stick  or  the  cloth  being  pressed  stoutly  against  the  rapidly 

revolving  piece. 

Engine  Lathes. 

Engine  lathes  differ  from  hand  lathes  in  being  larger  and 
stronger,  by  having  "back-gears,"  and  generally  by  having 
screw-cutting  attachments.  Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Put- 
nam Machine  Co.  of  Fitchburg,  Mass.,  I  insert  a  cut  of  their 
14-inch  lathe  as  Fig.  124.  When  a  piece  of  large  radius  is  being 
turned,  it  should  turn  very  slowly  and  yet  with  force  enough 
to  overcome  the  resistance  of  the  cutting  tool  on  its  extreme 
part.  This  double  result  is  effected  by  means  of  the  "back- 
gear,"  which  is  readily  thrown  in  and  out.  By  means  of  the 
cone  pulley  and  the  back-gears,  a  great  variety  of  speeds  may 
be  obtained  tho  the  counter  shaft  moves  with  uniform  velocity. 
The  student  should  calculate  the  method  of  securing  the  proper 
speed. 


138 


THE   THIRD,    OR   SENIOR    YEAR. 


[Chap,  IV, 


The  speed  with  which  pieces  should  turn  depends  upon  the 
diameter  of  the  part  under  the  tool  and  the  hardness  of  the 
material.  The  cutting  always  produces  heat,  but  this  heat 
should  not  be  high  enough  to  affect  the  temper  of  the  cutting 
tool.  The  usual  speed  for  a  cutting  tool  is  from  17  to  19  ft.  per 
minute.  A  tool  cutting  steel  and  wrought  iron  should  be  well 


FIG.  124.    A  14-iNCH  ENGINE  LATHE. 

oiled,  while  those  cutting  cast-iron  may  be  dry.  The  reason  is 
that  the  chips  of  the  former  do  not  break,  but  bend  and  slide 
along  on  the  end  of  the  tool  more  or  less,  producing  heat  from 
friction  unless  oiled.  Cast-iron  chips  break  off  quickly,  so  that 
oil  is  generally  unnecessary.  A  "  tap "  cutting  an  internal 
thread  should  always  be  oiled  no  matter  what  the  material,  in 
order  to  diminish  the  heat  of  friction.  Instead  of  oil  on  an 
external  tool  cutting  iron  or  steel,  soda  water,  or  water  alone 


Chap  IV.]  THE   THEORIES   OF  THE   TOOLS.  139 

is  often  used  for  lubrication  (and  smoother  cuts)  and  for  keep- 
ing the  tools  cool.  The  size  of  a  cut  depends  upon  the  hardness 
of  the  piece,  the  speed  of  the  lathe,  the  length  and  strength  of 
the  tool.  Experience  is  necessary  to  appreciate  these  matters. 

The  principal  tools  used  in  a  lathe  are  the  "  squaring-up " 
tool,  the  "  diamond-point,"  the  "  round-nose,"  the  "  thread-cut- 
ting "  tools,  and  the  cuttlng-off  or  "  parting  "  tool.  The  shapes 
of  these  tools  are  the  result  of  years  of  practice  and  experi- 
ment, and  their  characteristics  should  be  carefully  noted.  The 
students  have  already  become  familiar  with  their  proportions, 
while  forging  them  during  the  previous  year.  It  is  a  good  plan 
to  have  a  standard  set  of  tools  ground  to  definite  dimensions  by 
the  experts  of  a  first-class  shop,  and  to  keep  them  for  compari- 
son only,  while  dressing  and  grinding  the  tools  to  be  used  in 
the  lathes. 

The  teacher  will  not  attempt  to  explain  the  entire  lathe 
short  of  several  lectures.  Its  various  mechanisms  are  to  be 
shown  and  their  uses  illustrated.  Cylinders,  cones,  shoulders, 
right  and  left  V-threaded  screws,  right  and  left  square-threaded 
screws  illustrate  the  simplest  exercises.  The  feed  table  may 
generally  be  driven  by  a  belt,  but  the  cutting  of  a  screw  requires 
gears  that  cannot  slip.  The  class  should  be  shown  not  only 
how  to  use  the  directions  attached  to  the  lathe  for  cutting 
certain  numbers  of  threads  per  inch,  but  they  should  under- 
stand how  to  select  the  right  gears  independently,  for  any 
number  of  threads. 

The  uses  of  back-rests,  center-rests,  mandrels,  face-plates  and 
chucks  are  to  be  shown  in  succession.  The  cutting  of  threads 
in  nuts  and  interior  work  requires  special  tools. 

It  will  soon  be  evident  that  though  the  lathe  may  be  an 
instrument  of  great  precision,  good  work  will  not  be  done 
unless  it  is  intelligently  used.  The  cutting  tool  and  the  piece 
to  be  cut  must  be  mutually  adjusted  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  theory  of  the  machine  or  the  attempt  to  use  it  will  be  a 
failure. 

No  attempt  should  be  made  to  exhaust  the  capacity  of  a 
lathe.  The  expert  will  see  that  I  have  named  but  a  small  part 
of  its  possible  uses. 


140  THE   THIRD,    OR    SENIOR    YEAR.  [chap,  IV. 

The  Planer. 

The  planer  may  come  next.  This  tool  is  used  for  making 
plane  surfaces,  for  reducing  to  uniform  thickness,  for  beveling 
and  for  cutting  slots  or  grooves.  The  theory  of  the  planer  is 
easily  presented  and  very  interesting.  The  methods  of  adjust- 
ing and  clamping  the  work  are  most  ingenious.  The  exercises 
on  the  planer  should  involve  several  of  its  most  important 
adjustments.  No  change  of  speed  is  admissible  on  the  planer. 

The  Shaper. 

The  shaper,  or  "jumper,"  as  it  is  often  called,  is  a  small 
and  rapid  planer.  The  tools  used  are  the  same  and  their  use 
similar ;  there  is  however  this  difference :  in  the  planer  the  tool 
is  stationary  while  the  work  moves ;  in  the  shaper  the  converse 
is  true.  In  each  machine  the  return  motion  is  more  rapid  than 
the  advance.  The  construction  and  use  of  the  shaper  are 

readily  learned. 

The  Drill-Press. 

The  drill-press  has  a  large  range  of  work,  and  is  easily  under- 
stood. I  give  a  cut  of  this  truly  elegant  tool  in  Fig.  125.  Like 
the  lathe  it  has  a  combination  of  cone  pulleys  and  back-gears 
for  regulating  both  speed  and  power.  It  has  both  hand  and 
power  feed  and  a  quick  return  of  the  spindle.  The  small  tools 
used  in  the  drill-press  are:  drills,  twist-drills,  chucks,  boring 
bars,  and  cutters.  The  chief  difficulty  in  using  the  drill  con- 
sists in  properly  supporting  or  clamping  the  piece  to  be  drilled 
or  bored.  A  smaller  post-drill  may  be  thought  sufficient  for  a 
small  shop. 

After  general  lectures  on  the  planer,  shaper,  and  drill,  single 
students  are  put  at  each,  and  are  closely  watched  and  instructed 
by  the  teacher  personally.  As  soon  as  they  are  familiar  with 
their  work,  they  are  set  to  teach  what  they  know  to  a  new  set 
of  boys.  Later  on  these  last  boys  become  teachers  of  a  third 
set,  and  so  on  till  each  has  become  acquainted  with  the  tools 
and  has  executed  the  specified  exercises ;  the  supervision  re- 
quired from  the  teacher  is  thus  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Mean- 
while the  lathes  are  kept  in  systematic  use. 


Chap,  IV,] 


THE   GOOSE-NECK  DRILL. 


141 


In  all  machine-work  the  great  practical  difficulty  lies  not  in 
the  proper  adjustment  of  tools  and  of  work  for  rigid  material,  but 


FIG.  125.    "  GOOSE-NECK  DRILL,"  PUTNAM  MACHINE  COMPANY,  FITCHBUBG,  MASS. 

it  arises  from  the  springing  of  both  tool  and  work  when  under 
strain.     No  tool  is  so  rigid  as  not  to  bend,  and  no  piece  can  be 


142  THE   THIRD,    OR    SENIOR    YEAR.  [ Chap,  IV, 

so  securely  clamped  or  supported  as  not  to  yield  when  subjected 
to  pressure,  and  the  yielding  is  greater  for  points  farther  from 
the  supports.  Hence,  pieces  which  should  be  long  cylinders 
are  larger  in  the  middle  than  at  the  ends ;  screws  which  easily 
receive  nuts  at  their  ends,  bind  persistently  farther  down  ;  and 
so  on  in  various  ways.  Again,  iron  and  steel  are  not  homoge- 
neous ;  cast-iron  in  particular  is  full  of  inequalities.  Hard  spots 
are  found  where  the  tool  bends  excessively.  This  may  not  be 
visible  to  the  eye,  but  it  makes  itself  known  in  the  case  of  snug 
fits.  The  necessity  of  running  the  tool  over  the  work  a  second 
time  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  inequalities  due  to  unequal 
hardness  becomes  obvious  in  actual  work.  Good  judgment  in 
dealing  with  these  difficulties  is  the  result  of  intelligent  obser- 
vation and  continual  practice.  In  no  manual  training  school 
can  one  expect  much  practice  ;  consequently  the  students  cannot 
be  expected  to  have  the  skill  which  only  practice  can  give.  A 
great  deal  has  been  accomplished  if  the  students  have  seen  the 
real  nature  of  the  difficulties,  and  the  necessity  of  a  wide  expe- 
rience in  order  to  successfully  meet  them  all.  The  necessity  of 
clearance  in  the  care  of  every  cutting  tool  is  very  great.  In 
the  first  place  it  saves  unnecessary  friction  and  heat,  and  in  the 
second  it  saves  a  great  loss  of  power.  The  teacher  will  do  well 
to  illustrate  this  important  point  by  the  use  of  tools  of  improper 
shape,  and  so  show  "how  not  to  do  it"  by  developing  great 
heat  and  heavy  resistance. 

Bench-  Work. 

Bench-work  consists  in  the  use  of  hand-tools  at  the  vise,  and 
mainly  consists  in  "  chipping  "  and  "  filing."  Chipping  is  cut- 
ting with  a  chisel,  usually  called  a  "  cold  "  chisel,  as  it  cuts  cold 
metal.  Each  student  should  have  a  chisel  properly  forged  and 
tempered  by  himself  during  the  previous  year.  It  is  possible 
that  a  hammer  may  have  been  made,  but  as  a  rule  the  machin- 
ist's hammer  is  beyond  the  skill  of  a  novice,  and  only  good  tools 
should  be  used.  Chipping  is  rather  rough  work,  and  very 
moderate  exercises  should  be  given.  The  student  should  learn 
the  difference  under  the  hammer  between  cast  and  wrought 
iron,  between  soft  and  hard  steel.  He  should  know  .when  the 


Chap.  IV,]       THE  NATURE  OF  BENCH-WORK  IN  IRON.  143 

chisel  may  be  used  to  advantage,  and  when  not.  Great  skill  in 
striking  should  not  be  aimed  at.  Great  care  should  however 
be  taken  to  have  the  chisel  in  good  order  and  to  show  its  proper 
position  for  cutting.  It  is  perfectly  proper  to  use  a  thick, 
leather  glove  on  the  left  hand ;  no  useful  end  is  accomplished 
by  injuring  one's  hand  by  a  wild  blow  of  the  hammer. 

The  chipping  exercises  may  properly  consist  in  taking  off  cor- 
ners, in  chamfering  two  adjacent  edges,  in  cutting  a  slot,  etc. 

Filing,  tho  not  hard  work,  requires  great  patience  and  atten- 
tion to  style.  Each  exercise  given  should  be  brief,  and  should 
distinctly  teach  one  thing.  Filing  may  relate  to  quantity  or  to 
quality.  Special  shapes  may  be  required,  or  special  surfaces. 
Then  there  is  a  great  variety  of  material.  It  is  a  great  mistake 
to  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  in  an  attempt  to  do  a  very  difficult 
thing,  such  as  making  a  set  of  absolutely  plane  surfaces,  instead 
of  having  a  large  range  of  simple  exercises,  many  of  which  may 
be  executed  on  the  same  piece  of  material.  If  the  student 
knows  when  each  variety  of  file  is  to  be  used,  and  how  to  use 
it  fairly  well,  and  when  the  file  is  in  order  and  when  not,  when 
to  draw  a  temper  before  filing,  and  when  to  first  chip  or  use  a 
drill  or  planer — he  has  learned  what  is  far  more  valuable  than 
the  experience  in  a  probably  futile  attempt  to  make  a  pair  of 
surface  plates. 

EXERCISES   IN  IRON-WORK. 

The  special  exercises  by  means  of  which  the  uses  of  the  vari- 
ous tools  are  to  be  taught  may  vary  greatly.  The  following 
list  is  given,  not  because  they  are  better  than  any  others,  but 
because  in  our  shop  many  of  them  have  well  borne  the  tests  of 
several  years'  experience.  The  stock  in  some  of  them  admits 
of  use  year  after  year,  the  dimensions  required  being  changed, 
until  it  becomes  practically  used  up.  Special  reasons  may  lead 
to  modifications,  but  these  exercises  will  serve  well  as  a  basis. 
In  the  fittings  of  a  wood-turning  shop,  face-plates  are  needed, 
and  they  may  very  properly  take  the  place  of  certain  lathe 
work  in  the  machine-shop. 


144 


THE    THIRD,    OR    SENIOR    YEAR. 


[Chap.  IV. 


No.  1.  (Fig.  126.)  Plain  cylinder.  Stock,  wrought-iron,  one 
inch  round,  6J  inches  long.  After  it  is  turned  in  the  engine 
lathe,  the  piece  is  filed  and  polished  in  the  speed  lathe. 


FIG.  126. 

No.  2.  (Fig.  127.)  Taper  piece.  The  stock  may  be  found 
in  No.  1.  The  shoulders  of  the  chambered  part  are  to  be  kept 
square,  while  the  head  end  of  the  piece  is  to  be  turned  spherical. 
Turning  the  taper  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  operations 
of  the  lathe. 


FIG.  127. 


No.  3.  (Fig.  128.)  Right-  and  left-handed  screw.  Stock 
same  as  Nos.  1  and  2.  The  central  groove  is  cut  and  the  ends 
are  turned  down  before  the  threads  are  cut.  There  are  ten 


FIG.  128. 


V-threads  to  the  inch.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  the 
cutting-tools  except  the  files  and  drills  are  made  and  kept  in 
order  by  the  students  themselves. 


Chap.  IV.] 


M A  CHINE-  TO  OL  EXER  CISES. 


145 


No.  4.  (Fig.  129.)  Finished  handle.  Stock  If",  round 
iron,  4f"  long.  The  handle  is  approximately  formed  and  the 
thread  is  cut  in  the  engine  lathe.  In  the  speed  lathe,  by  the  use 
of  hand  tools,  the  free  outline  of  the  handle  is  obtained,  and  then 


FIG.  129. 

the  main  portion  is  given  a  high  polish.  The  thread  is  of  the 
standard  description,  so  that  the  handle  might  replace  one  on 
the  lathe  itself. 

No.  5.  (Fig.  130.)  Bolts  and  nuts.  The  stock  consists  of 
blank  bolts  and  nuts  with  an  excess  of  ^g"  of  material  on  every 
side.  Each  student  makes  three  of  these  bolts  and  three  of  a 
slightly  smaller  size.  Every  surface  is  to  be  well  finished. 
The  threads  in  the  nuts  are  cut  with  a  tap,  and  the  three  nuts 
are  put  in  a  common  mandrel  and  planed  to  the  required 
hexagonal  form  in  the  "shaper."  Errors  in  the  final  dimen- 


FIG.  130. 


sions  —  and  of  course  there  will  always  be  errors  —  are  con- 
sidered in  the  marking  of  the  exercise. 

No.  6.  (Fig.  131.)  Parallel  piece.  This  involves  planing, 
drilling,  chipping,  and  filing.  Stock,  cast-iron,  a  rough  block. 
This  is  planed  down  very  closely  to  exterior  dimensions.  The 
outline  of  the  central  hole  or  slot  is  traced,  and  holes  are  drilled 


146 


THE   THIRD,    OR   SENIOR    YEAR. 


[Chap,  IV. 


FIG.  131. 


within  the  line,  and  the  core  is  taken  out  by  the  broach.  The 
interior  is  then  chipped  out  and  filed.  The  planer,  the  drill- 
press,  and  vise  are  employed  in  this  exercise.  The  aim  in  filing 

is  to  produce  plane  faces 
to  the  slot,  parallel  to 
the  sides  and  ends  of 
the  piece.  All  the  faces 
exterior  as  well  as  in- 
terior are  to  be  finished 
by  hand.  The  exercise 
is  very  difficult.  Only 
fair  results  are  to  be 
required.  The  skill  of 
an  experienced  workman 
is  not  to  be  expected. 
No.  7.  (Fig.  132.)  Similar  to  a  valve  seat.  Planing,  chip- 
ping, and  filing.  This  exercise  involves  some  of  the  preceding, 
with  more  difficulties  in  adjusting  the  piece  in  the  planer.  The 
piece  is  used  several 
years  in  succession. 
Each  year  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  slots  are 
increased,  while  the 
exterior  dimensions  are 
diminished.  All  the 
surfaces  worked  are  to 
be  left  true  and  pol- 
ished. The  stock  to 
begin  with  was  a  rough 
iron  casting,  about 
eight  inches  long. 

No.  8.  Chipping  off 
rivets.  See  Fig.  82 
among  the  forging  ex- 
ercises. Last  year  the 
student  put  in  these 

six  rivets  to  the  best  of  his  ability ;  he  is  now  to  learn  how  and 
with  what  labor  they  may  be  cut  out  and  the  plates  sent  back 


FIG.  132. 


Chap.  IV. 


MACHINE-SHOP  EXERCISES. 


147 


to   the    forging-shop  to  be  re-riveted.     With  care  the  drilled 
holes  may  be  left  uninjured,  and  the  plates  may  be  used  over 
and  over  again  for  sev- 
eral years. 

No.  9.  The  dog.  See 
Fig.  90  among  the  for- 
ging exercises.  The  main 
shank  is  now  to  be  cen- 
tered, the  head  dressed, 
drilled,  tapped,  and  fur- 
nished with  a  steel  set- 
screw  with  a  hardened 
point.  The  dog  will  then 
be  available  for  use  in  the 
lathe.  If  the  supply  of 
dogs  is  ample,  a  new  ex- 
ercise in  drilling  may  be 
substituted. 

No.  1O.  The  pin  and 
flanged  nut.  Fig.  133 
gives  two  views  of  the 
pin,  and  a  section  of  the 
flanged  nut.  The  mate- 
rial is  all  cast-iron.  The 
exercise  contains  a  great 
variety  of  points,  and  calls 
into  use  many  tools  and 
processes.  Both  threads 
are  cut  on  the  lathe,  and 
all  surfaces  are  to  be  fin- 
ished. It  is  obvious  that 
the  pin  may  be  used  a  FIG.  133. 

second    time,    with    less 
dimensions ;  the  flanged  nut  may  be  used  with  a  larger  pin. 

No.  11.  Shaft  couplings.  Fig.  134  shows  how  two  pieces 
of  shafting  may  be  coupled  together,  and  how  flanged  collars 
and  pulleys  may  be  fitted  to  the  same.  All  except  the  pieces 
of  shafting  are  shown  in  section,  and  four  kinds  of  fitting  are 


THE   THIRD,    OB   SENIOR    YEAR.  [chap.  IV. 

illustrated.     The  combined  piece  is  finally  finished  in  the  lathe 
as  a  unit.     The  disks  are  usually  about  five  inches  in  diameter, 

and  the  whole  length  is  about 
fourteen  inches.  The  flanges  are 
of  cast-iron,  while  the  shafting  is 
wrought-iron.  Each  of  the  "fits  " 
has  a  method  peculiar  to  itself, 
and  gives  opportunity  for  valuable 
experience. 

In  marking  the  results  of  this 
work  the  teacher  should  deter- 
mine his  scale  as  he  goes  over 
and  explains  the  work  before  the 
class,  and  this  scale  should  be 
fully  known  and  understood  by 
the  class.  Moreover,  the  work 
should  be  passed  upon  at  every 
stage.  A  poor  job  of  lathe-work 
should  not  be  covered  or  con- 
cealed under  a  long  job  of  filing 
in  the  speed  lathe ;  nor  should 
one  error  in  dimensions  be  can- 
celed by  another.  The  methods 
by  which  a  result  is  reached 
should  be  marked  as  well  as  the  concrete  result  itself. 

Projects. 

When  these  exercises  are  finished,  a  variety  of  combination 
pieces  may  be  executed  by  the  members  of  a  class  jointly  or 
separately.  These  projects  should  be  carefully  matured,  detail 
drawings  of  all  the  parts  should  be  made,  often  patterns  should 
be  made  for  cast-iron  work.  Jack-screws,  speed  lathes,  electrical 
apparatus,  and  small  engines  furnish  abundant  and  interesting 
work  on  which  to  combine  the  exercises  into  particular  shapes. 
There  is  great  danger,  however,  of  undertaking  too  much. 

I  strongly  advise  against  undertaking  work  so  large  that 
much  of  it  has  to  be  done  outside  in  commercial  shops.  The 
tools  I  have  described  and  used  are  small  when  compared  with 


Chap,  IV,]  THE  SCHOOL-SHOP  NOT  A   FACTORY.  149 

those  in  actual  use  in  large  establishments ;  and  I  suggest  that 
the  class  be  taken  to  see  large  and  heavy  work  done  as  soon 
as  they  have  had  experience  in  light  and  easy  work. 

My  readers  will  of  course  observe  that  I  have  not  tried  to 
make  a  factory  out  of  our  school-shop.  No  defence  of  my 
course  ought  to  be  necessary,  but  there  are  so  many  people 
who  think  that  the  moment  we  put  the  theory  and  use  of 
tools  into  a  school  curriculum,  we  must  abandon  approved  edu- 
cational methods  and  transform  the  institution  into  a  manufac- 
tory, that  I  have  elsewhere  discussed  this  point  at  some  length. 
I  must  refer  my  readers  to  that  discussion  in  subsequent 
chapters.  They  may  be  sure  that  this  discussion  forms  no  part 
of  the  school  proper. 


150  RECORD  AND   TESTIMONY   OF  GRADUATES.      [Chap,  V, 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE    RECORD    AND    TESTIMONY    OF    GRADUATES. 

IN  Chapter  VIII.  I  shall  give  in  detail  the  "  Fruits  of  Manual 
Training,"  partly  a  priori,  and  partly  as  seen  by  one  actually 
in  charge  of  a  manual  training  school.  I  now  propose  to  give 
the  results  as  shown  by  the  roster  and  testimony  of  our 
graduates. 

I  am  well  aware  that  I  am  undertaking  a  dangerous  task. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  tell  what  is 
and  what  is  not  the  result  of  our  training.  In  the  second  place, 
the  testimony  of  graduates  is  liable  to  be  biased  in  favor  of  the 
course  they  took,  on  the  principle  that  one  should  speak  well 
of  the  bridge  that  brought  him  over,  even  if  it  is  a  very  poor 
bridge.  This  difficulty  I  must  share  with  others ;  and  as  my 
graduates  are  not  more  prejudiced  than  the  graduates  of  other 
schools,  their  testimony  must  not  be  unduly  discredited.  In 
the  third  place,  the  time  is  all  too  short  for  full  results  to 
appear.  I  can  not  point  to  a  long  list  of  worthies  who  date  the 
beginnings  of  honorable  careers  with  their  training  here.  Our 
oldest  graduates  left  us  less  than  four  years  ago.  But  I  am 
willing  to  trust  the  future.  Such  testimony  as  I  can  give  is 
submitted  with  confidence  and  a  desire  to  be  both  frank  and 
fair. 

The  following  circular  letter  will  explain  how  I  went  about 
my  investigation :  — 

MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL,  ST.  Louis,  July  25, 1886. 

DEAR  SIR, —  In  a  book  soon  to  be  published,  I  desire  to  give  as  fully  as 
possible  the  statistics  of  the  graduates  of  the  Manual  Training  School  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  (so  far  as  such  things  can  be  shown  at  this  time) 
the  results  of  the  training  afforded  by  the  school.  No  names  will  be  used 
in  my  analysis  of  these  statistics,  so  1  hope  you  will  write  with  the  utmost 


Chap,  V.]          CIRCULAR  ADDRESSED   TO   GRADUATES.  151 

frankness.     I  wish  to  get  at  the  TRUTH  both  when  it  makes  against  our 
school  and  when  it  makes  for  it.     If  I  quote  from  your  letter  I  shall  not 
give  your  name,  though  your  classmates  may  be  able  to  infer  it. 
I  wish  to  know  :  — 

1.  Your  address  and  the  precise  nature  of  your  present  or  prospective 
occupation  ;  and  if  employed,  how  you  are  classed  on  your  employer's  books. 

2.  If  employed,  your  present  (or  recent)  wages  per  month  or  year. 

3.  How  your  position  and  pay  compare  with  those  of  other  young  men  of 
your  age  in  the  same  or  similar  establishments. 

4.  What  you  now  think  of  your  training  at  this  school ;  its  good  points, 
its  deficiences,  its  advantages,  and  its  disadvantages. 

5.  Under  what  circumstances  would  you,  or  your  parents,  or  your  em- 
ployer advise  a  young  man  to  come  to  this  school. 

6.  What  your  employer  or  immediate  superior  thinks  of  the  result  of 
your  school  training;  as  to  general  intelligence;  habits  of  promptness  and 
precision  ;  as  to  skill  of  any  kind ;  as  to  ability  to  understand  what  is  new, 
and  to  do  as  you  are  directed ;  as  to  your  ability  to  bear  responsibility,  and 
to  direct  others ;  as  to  your  ingenuity ;  as  to  your  defects  and  failings ;  as  to 
your  manners  and  general  habits.     Would  he  be  disposed  or  not  to  give  the 
preference  to  a  graduate  of  this  school,  were  he  in  want  of  a  new  clerk, 
assistant,  draughtsman  or  apprentice  workman,  from   eighteen   to   twenty 
years  of  age. 

I  suggest  that  you  answer  the  first  five  questions  yourself  in  a  carefully 
written  letter  to  me,  and  that  you  then  place  this  circular  in  the  hands  of 
that  one  who  can  best  reply  to  questions  5  and  6. 

Wishing  you  the  highest  success,  I  remain  your  friend, 

C.  M.   WOODWARD, 

Director. 

I  shall  first  give  as  fully  as  I  can  the  present  occupations  of 
my  students ;  this  will  show  their  positions  in  society.  Sec- 
ondly, I  shall  give  the  average  monthly  wages  of  those  who  are 
earning  money.  Thirdly,  I  shall  give  extracts  from  the  letters 
I  have  received  in  response  to  my  circular.  And  here  let  me 
add,  that  in  all  this  I  evidently  put  my  best  foot  foremost. 
The  unsuccessful  graduates  are  not  likely  to  answer  my  letter, 
and  though  it  would  be  manifestly  unfair  to  assume  that  those 
who  have  not  responded  have  nothing  favorable  to  report,  it 
is  unquestionably  true  that  those  who  have  not  written  me 
would  make  on  the  average  a  poorer  showing  than  that  given 
below.  How  is  it  with  the  records  of  graduates  of  other 
schools  ? 


152  RECORD  AND    TESTIMONY  OF  GRADUATES.      [Chap.  V, 

THE   OCCUPATIONS    OF    GRADUATES. 

Class  of  1883. 

Henry  H.  Bauer,  Farmer,  Dorchester,  111. 

John  Boyle,  Jr.,  B.E.1  Fifth-year  student  in  Mining  Engineering,  Wash- 
ington University. 

John  L.  Bryan,  Head  Turner  in  Pipe  Works,  Washington,  Mo. 

Alex.  W.  Buchanan,  Student  in  Mechanical  Engineering,  Cornell  University. 

Peyton  T.  Carr,  Clerk,  Office  of  Insurance  Commissioner. 

Edward  E.  Davidson,  Partner  in  Real  Estate  Business,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Cornelius  V.  De  Jong,  Machinist. 

Harry  Deitrich,  Machinist,  Draughtsman,  Patternmaker,  etc.,  Brass  Foun- 
dry, St.  Louis. 

William  S.  Dodd,  Collector,  Laclede  Gas  Works,  St.  Louis. 

Henry  F.  Dose,  Student,  University  of  Illinois. 

Wm.  J.  Downton,  Architect's  Office. 

Theo.  Gluck,  Senior  Class  in  Mining  Engineering,  Washington  University. 

S.  D.  Hayden,  Clerk  in  Southeastern  Railway  Office. 

Robert  L.  Hyatt,  Farmer,  St  Louis  County. 

Conrad  S.  Ittner,  Jr.,  Bricklayer. 

Wm.  B.  Ittner,  Student  in  Architecture,  Cornell  University. 

Albert  L.  Johnson,  Senior  Class,  Civil  Engineering,  Washington  University. 

Wm.  Love,  Assistant  Engineer,  Missouri  Pacific  Railway. 

Harry  W.  Lytance. 

Robert  H.  McMath,  B.E.,  with  Adolphus  Meier  &  Co.,  St.  Louis. 

Otto  L.  Mersman,  Merchant,  St.  Louis. 

Wm.  G.  Nixon,  Clerk,  Supply  Department,  Iron  Mountain  Railway. 

Everett  G.  Phillips,  Engineer  and  Shoemaker,  St.  Louis. 

Wm.  K.  Roth,  Grocer,  St.  Louis. 

Justus  W.  Schmidt,  Draughtsman,  Architect's  Office. 

Greenfield  Sluder,  Medical  Student. 

Jules  C.  Smith,  Machinist. 

Herbert  Taylor,  Salesman,  Simmons  Hardware  Co. 

John  P.  Thul,  Senior  Class,  Dynamic  Engineering,  Washington  University. 

John  F.  Valle,  Clerk  in  Commission  House. 

Class  of  1884. 

Grant  Beebe,  Senior  Class,  Dynamic  Engineering,  Washington  University. 
A.  Theo.  Bruegel,  Senior  Class,  Mechanical  Engineering,  Lehigh  University. 
Geo.  R.  Carothers,  Principal  Technical  School,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Walter  R.  Coles,  Clerk,  with  John  Coles  &  Co. 

1  The  degree  of  B.E.,  Bachelor  of  Engineering,  is  at  present  given  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  year  of  the  Engineering  Courses  in  Washington  University. 
Since  this  chapter  was  prepared  for  the  press,  Mr.  Boyle  has  taken  the  full  pro- 
fessional degree  of  "  Mining  Engineer." 


Chap,  Vj^  OCCUPATIONS   OF  GRADUATES.  153 

Claude  N.  Comstock,  Senior  Class,  Civil  Engineering,  Columbia  College,  N.  Y. 
Geo.  D.  Eaton,  Assistant,  High  School,  Marine,  111. 
Alfred  C.  Einstein,  Stenographer,  St.  Louis  &  San  Francisco  Railway. 
Hamilton  R.  Gamble,  Clerk  wholesale  Drug-store. 
Charles  D.  Grayson,  Practical  Mailer,  St.  Louis. 
Geo.  N.  Hinchman,  Jr.,  Draughtsman  in  Office  of  Patent-Lawyer. 
Ernest  C.  Klipstein,  Draughtsman,  Real  Estate  Office. 
Charles  A.  Langdon,  Clerk. 

James  L.  Marks,  Machinist,  Shops  Mo.  Pac.  Ry.,  St.  Louis. 
Constant  Mathey,  Salesman  with  Merrnod,  Jaccard  &  Co. 
Alexander  D.  Mermod,  Ranchman,  Poncha  Park,  Col. 

Ralph  H.  Miller,  Superintendent,  Toledo  Manual  Training  School,  Toledo,  O. 
George  S.  Mills,  Teacher  of  Drawing,  Toledo  Manual  Training  School. 
William  O'Keefe,  Shipping  Clerk  of  Machinery. 

Otto  H.  Olfe,  Draughtsman  and  Superintendent,  with  W.  E.  Bent,  Archi- 
tect, St.  Louis. 

Harry  M.  Pflager,  Head  Draughtsman,  Pullman  Car  Works,  St.  Louis. 
John  H.  Pope,  Senior  Class  in  Civil  Engineering,  Washington  University. 
Edward  L.  Pretorious,  Clerk,  Business  Department  Westliche  Post,  St.  Louis. 
Win.  F.  Richards,  Clerk  in  Office  of  Vandalia  Railroad. 
Harry  C.  Scott,  Clerk  in  Railroad  Office. 
Percy  S.  Silver,  Manufacturer,  Lexington,  Mo. 
Charles  F.  Springer,  Merchant,  Chicago. 

H.  Reed  Stanford,  Senior  Class,  Civil  Engineering,  Washington  University. 
Homer  Wise,  Foreman,  Collier  Lead  and  Oil  Works,  St.  Louis. 
Edmund  II.  Wuerpel,  Student  of  Drawing  and  Architecture. 
Harry  B.  Wyeth,  Junior  Class,  Michigan  University. 

Class  of  1885. 

Wm.  F.  Barnes,  Teacher  Manual  Training  School,  Eau  Claire,  Wis. 

Hatcher  Bates,  Farmer,  Mo. 

A.  M.  Bumann,  Teacher  Manual  Training,  Omaha  High  School,  Neb. 

King  Charles  Barton,  Assistant,  Smelting  and  Refining  Works,  Omaha,  Neb. 

Judson  S.  Bemis,  with  Bemis  Brothers  Bag  Co. 

Edgar  L.  Brother,  Teacher  Manual  Training,  Swathrnore  College,  Penn. 

Thomas  W.  Booth,  St.  Louis,  Law  Student. 

Albert  H.  Buck,  Draughtsman,  American  Brake  Co.,  St.  Louis. 

Edward  H.  Chapman,  Farmer. 

Frederick  A.  Chouteau,  Teacher  Manual  Training,  Swathmore  College,  Penn. 

Geo.  W.  Danforth,  Cadet  U.  S.  Naval  Academy,  Annapolis. 

H.  G.  Ellis,  Assayer,  Gunnison,  Col. 

Arthur  Feickert,  Baker,  Belleville,  111. 

Charles  O.  Fischer,  Office  of  Civil  Engineer. 

Wm.  F.  Hopper,  Apprentice,  Stove  and  Machine  Pattern-making,  St.  Louis. 

Clarence  H.  Howard,  General  Foreman,  Motive  Power,  Mo.  Pac.  Ry. 


154  RECORD  AND    TESTIMONY  OF  GRADUATES.       [Chap,  V. 

H.  F.  S.  Kleinschmidt,  in  charge  of  Manual  Training  School,  Denver 
University,  Denver,  Col. 

Albert  Koberle,  Student,  Junior  Class,  Washington  University. 

Wm.  P.  Laing,  Machinist,  St.  Louis. 

Edward  L.  Lange,  Clerk,  Hardware  Store. 

Ernest  E.  Lazar,  Machinist,  Baldridge  Type  Writing  Co. 

Louis  D.  Lawnin,  Clerk,  N.  O.  Nelson  Manufacturing  Co. 

Edward  H.  Lebens,  Student,  Junior  Class,  Washington  University. 

John  J.  Lichter,  Jr.,  Student,  Junior  Class,  Washington  University. 

Wm.  Alex.  Magee,  Practical  Electrician. 

Frank  W.  Morse,  Foreman,  Wabash  Repair  Shops,  St.  Louis. 

Frank  E.  Nulsen,  with  Missouri  Malleable  Iron  Foundry  Co,  St.  Louis. 

Geo.  R.  Olshausen,  Student,  Junior  Class,  Washington  University. 

Charles  M.  Parker,  Student,  Junior  Class,  Troy  Polytechnic  Institute. 

Frank  E.  Reel. 

Louis  C.  Rohlfing,  Medical  Student. 

Edward  H.  Rottman,  Stenographer  in  Hardware  Store. 

James  L.  Sloss,  Student. 

Edward  Smith,  Lumber  Business. 

Geo.  M.  Stedman,  General  Foreman,  Machine  and  Foundry  Works,  Aurora,  Ind. 

J.  Harrison  Steedman,  Student,  Junior  Class,  Washington  University. 

Hamilton  W.  Stone,  Bookkeeper  and  Draughtsman,  Heating  and  Venti- 
lating Co.,  St.  Louis. 

Wm.  T.  Treadway,  Machinist,  Mo.  Pac.  Shops,  St.  Louis. 

Harry  L.  Whitman,  in  business  with  his  father. 

Charles  H.  Wright,  Teacher  of  Manual  Training,  Denver,  Col. 

SUMMARY  OF  OCCUPATIONS. 

STUDENTS  (engineering,  law,  and  medicine)        ..... 
CLERKS  (in  banks,  railway  offices,  manufactories,  etc.) 
TEACHERS  (generally  of  manual  training)  ..... 

DRAUGHTSMEN  (with  architects,  manufacturers,  etc.) 

MACHINISTS 

ARTISANS  (pattern-maker,  bricklayer,  shoemaker  [with  power  ma- 
chine], molder,  and  electrician)    .......  5 

FARMERS  and  RANCHMEN 5 

BUSINESS  MEN 4 

FOREMEN  (of  railway  shops  and  lead  and  oil  works)  ....          4 

ENGINEERS  J  (mechanical  and  civil) 2 

MANUFACTURERS        2 

BAKER 1 

UNKNOWN 2 

1  The  small  number  of  engineers  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  additional  study 
and  training  necessary  for  an  accomplished  civil,  mining,  or  mechanical  engi- 
neer, extends  over  four  Qijive  more  years,  and  there  has  not  been  time  to  complete 
such  courses. 


Chap,  V.] 


EECOED   OF  CHICAGO   GRADUATES. 


155 


GRADUATES   OF  THE  CHICAGO   MANUAL  TRAINING   SCHOOL. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  adding  to  this  list  an  extract  from  the 
recently  issued  catalogue  of  the  Chicago  Manual  Training 
School.  It  shows,  as  well  as  dp  the  records  just  given,  how 
sharp  an  appetite  for  severe  study  a  student  has  on  leaving  a 
manual  training  school. 

Graduates,  1886. 


NAME. 

MORITZ  WILLIAM  BOEHM, 
STUART  DUNLEVY  BOYNTON, 
GARY  NATHAN  CALKINS, 
ALLAN  MONTGOMERY  CLEMENT, 
CHARLES  LOCKE  ETHERIDGE, 
WILLIAM  HENRY  FAHRNEY, 
SAMUEL  DOUGLAS  FLOOD, 
ARTHUR  DEWEY  HALL, 
PHILIP  HARVEY, 
CHARLES  WILLIAMS  HAWKES, 
CHARLES  GILBERT  HAWLEY, 
JOHN  PORTER  P!EYWOOD, 
HARLEY  SEYMOUR  HIBBARD, 
SAMUEL  EDWARD  HITT, 
ELBRIDGE  BYRON  KEITH, 
HENRY  WILLIAM  KLARE, 
ROBERT  ALLAN  LACKEY, 
JOSEPH  DIXON  LEWIS, 
JAMES  STUART  MCDONALD,  Jr., 
CHARLES  MESSER, 
WILLIAM  OTIS  MOODY, 
OVINGTON  Ross, 
ALBERT  SCHEIBLE, 
HERMAN  SCHIFFLIN, 
EMIL  HENRY  SEEMANN, 
HENRY  HEILEMAN  WAIT, 
OLIVER  JOHNSON  WESTCOTT, 


OCCUPATIONS 

)  with  Crane  Bros.  Elevator  Co. 

\  Teacher  of  Drawing,  Evening  High  School. 


Mass.  Institute  of  Technology, 
with  Clement,  Bane,  &  Co.,  Mnfrs. 
Sibley  College,  Cornell  University. 
Chicago  College  of  Pharmacy. 
Mass.  Institute  of  Technology, 
with  St.  Nicholas  Toy  Mnfg.  Co. 

with  Crane  Bros.  Elevator  Co. 

Sibley  College,  Cornell  University. 

Mass.  Institute  of  Technology. 

with  W.  L.  B.  Jenney,  Architect. 

Sibley  College,  Cornell  University. 

Beloit  College. 

Reedy  Elevator  Works. 

with  Wm.  Sooy  Smith  &Co.,Civil  Engrs. 

with  N.  K.  Fairbank  &  Co.,  Mnfrs. 

Ass't  Sup't  McDonald-Lawson  Mfg.  Co. 


with  George  P.  Ross,  Mnfr. 

School  of  Mech.  Eng  ,  Purdue  Univ. 

with  Fraser  &  Chalmers,  Mnfrs. 

with  Frederick  Seemann,  Mnfr. 

Hyde  Park  High  School. 

with  A.  Gottlieb  &  Co.,  Civil  Engineers. 


156  RECORD  AND    TESTIMONY  OF  GRADUATES.       [Chap,  V, 

MONTHLY    WAGES,1    OR    THE    PRACTICAL    MEASUREMENT    OF 
THEIR   BREAD-WINNING   AND   HOME-MAKING  POWER. 

Class  of  1883. 

Twenty-two  out  of  twenty-nine  are  in  business,  or  have  been 
earning  regular  wages.  The  average  rate  of  such  wages 
according  to  all  the  answers  I  have  received  is  SIXTY-EIGHT 

DOLLARS   A  MONTH. 

Class  of  1884. 

The  number  known  to  me  to  be  earning  regular  wages  is 
twelve.  The  average  rate  of  their  wages  is  SEVENTY-EIGHT 

DOLLARS   A   MONTH. 

Class  of  1885. 

Fourteen  out  of  the  thirty-nine  of  this  class  have  been  earn- 
ing money  at  the  average  rate  of  SEVENTY  DOLLARS  PER  MONTH. 

The  average  ages  of  the  three  classes  in  July,  1886,  was 
twenty-one,  twenty,  and  nineteen  years  respectively. 

EXTRACTS   FROM   LETTERS. 

I  must  quote  sparingly  from  my  long  file  of  interesting  let- 
ters. For  convenience  I  will  number  them  as  I  take  them  up. 
Before  reading  the  extracts,  please  re-read  the  circular. 

No.  1  is  engaged  in  mechanical  work. 

"  Too  high  an  estimate  can  not  be  placed  upon  the  value  of  the  method, 
exactness,  and  confidence  which  the  student  acquires  by  studying  and  care- 
fully working  out  step  by  step  the  progressive  course  of  study  and  practice. 
.  .  .  My  parents,  my  employers,  and  I  would  all  join  in  advising  a  young 
man  under  all  circumstances  to  attend  a  manual  training  school." 


1  Prof.  Ripper  of  Sheffield,  England,  thus  speaks  of  the  experience  of  one  who 
evidently  Avas  a  pupil  in  his  manual  training  school.  "A  gentleman  recently 
sent  his  son  to  a  steel  works  in  Sheffield  on  trial  for  a  month.  He  had  not  been 
there  long  when  his  master  set  him  to  make  a  working  drawing,  from  a  sketch, 
for  a  steel  casting.  The  boy  had  been  taught  machine  drawing  at  school,  and  to 
his  employer's  astonishment,  the  drawing  made  was  not  only  just  what  was 
wanted,  but,  as  the  manufacturer  said,  it  was  much  superior  to  the  drawings  he 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  getting.  This,  of  course,  increased  the  value  of  the  boy's 
labor  at  once,  thanks  to  the  instruction  he  received  at  school.  And  yet  how  few 
schools  there  are  which  send  their  pupils  forth  equipped  in  any  such  way. 


Chap.  V,]          GRADUATES   SPEAK  FOR    THEMSELVES.  157 

No.  2  is  himself,  tho  still  very  young,  a  foreman  of  a  large 
system  of  railway  shops.  I  quote  not  what  he  says  of  himself, 
but  what  he  says  of  other  boys  in  his  employ. 

"  As  an  employer,  I  will  say  for  several  of  the  Manual  Training  School 
boys  I  have  working  for  me,  that  they  will  in  one  year  accomplish  as  much  as 
the  ordinary  boy  (who  has  not  received  the  training  the  Manual  Training 
School  gives)  will  in  three.  For  example,  I  have  two  boys  working  side  by 
side,  one  from  the  school,  and  the  other  an  uneducated  boy ;  the  former  has 
been  working  here  nine  months,  while  the  latter  has  been  here  over  three 
years  ;  and  to-day  the  boy  from  school  will  do  better,  cleaner,  neater,  quicker 
work  by  far  than  the  other  boy.  One  boy  learns  the  trade  by  imitation, 
while  the  other  learns  it  by  reason  and  study.  The  boy  from  the  school  is 
more  precise  and  neat  about  his  work,  grasps  a  new  idea  more  readily,  looks 
upon  new  features  of  the  business  with  greater  intelligence,  and  is  better 
able  to  direct  others  and  to  bear  responsibilities.  He  has  better  command 
of  language  and  can  impart  to  others  the  ideas  he  wishes  them  to  obtain. 
When  a  difficult  point  arises,  the  school  boy  will  labor  with  it  until  he  con- 
quers it,  while  the  other  boy  will  study  a  while,  then  give  it  up.  Were  I  to 
need  a  clerk,  apprentice,  or  draughtsman,  I  would  and  do  give  the  Manual 
Training  School  boys  the  preference,  because  I  get  much  better  results  with 
less  trouble." 

No.  3  is  a  teacher  of  manual  training. 

"  I  believe  that  the  course  in  your  school,  as  it  was  when  I  was  there,  and 
as  I  suppose  it  is  now,  was  more  than  what  it  claimed  to  be,  and  accom- 
plished all  its  aims,  as  far  as  I  can  see.  I  know  that  it  opened  up  more 
than  one  path  for  a  future  for  me,  in  congenial  pursuits  where  all  was  blank 
before." 

No.  4.  This  is  evidently  a  u  cow-boy  "  of  the  better  sort,  and 
he  writes  from  his  ranch  in  Poncha  Park. 

"  I  have  not  regretted  going  to  the  Manual  Training  School,  for  it  is  help- 
ing me  a  good  deal.  The  knowledge  I  derived  in  the  blacksmith  shop  has 
stood  me  in  good  stead,  for  on  the  ranch  we  do  all  our  own  iron-work  as 
well  as  wood-work.  We  have  a  blacksmith  shop  and  do  all  our  horse-shoe- 
ing, though  we  did  not  learn  to  shoe  horses  at  the  Manual  Training  School. 
I  would  advise  any  boy  who  does  not  intend  taking  a  classical  education  to 
go  to  the  Manual  Training  School.  I  think  my  parents  would  answer  the 
same  way.  As  to  my  employer,  I  don't  suppose  he  gives  it  a  thought  one 
way  or  the  other.  Out  here  every  one  thinks  and  talks  of  nothing  but  cattle." 

No.  5  finds  use  for  his  training,  tho  not  a  mechanic. 

"Every  day  I  am  required  to  put  into  use  some  of  the  knowledge  or 
methods  learned  in  the  shops,  and  I  think  I  should  be  utterly  at  sea  with- 


158  RECORD   AND    TESTIMONY  OF  GRADUATES.      [chap.  V, 

out  that  training.  The  third  year,  both  in  the  schoolroom  and  the  shops, 
is  of  course  by  far  the  most  valuable,  and  is  the  culmination  toward  which 
the  rest  of  the  course  tends.  You  can  not  too  strongly  urge  upon  students 
the  necessity  of  the  graduating  year." 

No.  6.  A  student  of  the  class  of  '84,  now  at  Lehigh  Univer- 
sity, writes  that  during  the  Sophomore  year  the  only  difference 
between  the  course  in  civil  and  that  in  mechanical  engineer- 
ing lay  in  the  study  ,of  "  surveying "  by  the  former,  and  the 
study  of  the  "  steam  engine  "  by  the  latter.  He  took  survey- 
ing as  an  "extra,"  and  the  steam  engine  as  a  "regular,"  and 
was  the  only  student  in  a  class  of  eighty-one  who  did  so.  At 
the  end  of  the  year  his  general  standing  was  twelfth  in  a  total 
of  131  Sophomores,  and  he  stood  first  in  both  surveying  and  steam 
engine.  He  attributes  his  success  to  his  excellent  preparation. 

No.  7.  Designer  and  head  draughtsman,  Pullman  car-shops, 
St.  Louis.  I  greatly  prize  his  suggestions. 

"The  advantages  of  the  school  are  inestimable.  .  .  .  T  receive  a  higher  rate 
of  wages  than  other  boys  in  the  same  establishment.  I  would  recommend 
that  more  attention  be  paid  [at  school]  to  pen-shading  of  concave  and  convex, 
and  ogee  surfaces,  and  also  to  sections  and  details  of  all  kinds,  so  that  one 
of  your  graduates  may  go  into  any  shop  and  read  any  working  drawing ; 
also,  that  they  receive  a  few  lessons  in  perspective." 

No.  8  is  from  a  graduate  of  one  year  ago. 

"I  have  a  better  position  now  than  young  men  that  have  been  in  the 
same  shops  for  three  years,  and  I  receive  more  pay." 

No.  9  is  from  a  graduate  twenty  years  old,  who  is  a  stenog- 
rapher in  the  office  of  a  railway  company. 

"  I  consider  my  training  at  the  Manual  Training  School  as  being  indis- 
pensable to  myself,  and  do  not  see  how  a  young  man  of  a  mechanical, 
mercantile,  literary,  or  even  any  professional  turn  of  mind,  can  consider  his 
education  completed,  or  be  satisfied  with  it,  without  having  had  at  least  a 
taste  of  manual  training.  ...  In  every-day  life,  it  makes  no  difference 
what  the  profession  or  occupation  of  one  may  be,  something  will  turn  up, 
where  the  training,  such  as  I  received  at  the  Manual  Training  School,  will 
become  essential  to  the  success,  advancement,  and  improvement  of  a  young 
man." 

No.  10  is  from  a  young  man  in  the  Junior  class  in  dynamic 
engineering.  Of  his  vacation  work  he  says  :  — 


Chap.  V.]  A    SHOEMAKER   AND   A    PRINTER.  159 

"During  last  summer  I  received  $2.50  per  day  when  I  was  drawing  and 
$2.00  when  I  worked  at  the  Exposition.  At  the  latter  place  I  was  learning 
to  put  up  pipe-work." 

One  of  the  most  valuable  results  of  manual  training  he  thinks 
is:  — 

"The  habit  of  systematic  work ;  I  mean  the  habit  of  laying  a  definite  plan 
before  starting  upon  a  piece  of  work  or  action." 

The  mother  of  No.  10  and  of  a  graduate  in  the  last  class 
writes,  speaking  of  a  third  son  who  did  not  take  the  Manual 
Training  School  course :  "  I  now  think  that  it  would  have  been 
to  his  advantage  to  have  taken  the  course  in  the  Manual." 

No.  11  shows  that  tho  we  have  no  leather  work  in  the  school 
our  training  is  not  lost  on  a  shoemaker  of  the  modern  sort. 

"  I  am  running  a  petroleum  engine  and  a  heel-trimming  machine  at  a 
shoe  factory.  .  .  .  I  receive  $18.00  per  week.  .  .  .  I  consider  the  training  I 
received  at  the  Manual  Training  School  almost  indispensable ;  in  fact,  it  is 
what  gave  me  my  present  situation." 

No.  12  is  a  young  man  who  learned  all  that  was  to  be  learned 
in  the  printer's  trade  and  then  went  into  the  counting-room  of 
a  daily  newspaper.  His  father,  the  editor  and  proprietor,  thus 
writes :  — 

"  I  assure  you  with  great  pleasure,  that  I  would  send  as  many  boys  to 
your  school  as  I  could  possibly  control  in  that  respect.  Judging  from  expe- 
rience I  feel  satisfied  the  training  there  benefits  them  not  only  in  point  of 
general  intelligence,  but  as  to  promptness,  skill,  and  all  other  particular 
points  alluded  to  in  your  circular,  equally  as  well." 

No.  13  is  from  another  Junior  student  in  civil  engineering. 
He  thus  speaks  of  his  vacation  work  and  of  his  preparation  for 
the  university :  — 

"  At  present,  rather  than  be  idle,  I  am  engaged  running  an  engine  on  a 
derrick  boat  at  15  cents  per  hour.  I  tend  to  both  the  boiler  and  the  engine, 
and  have  sole  charge  with  the  exception  of  a  foreman  who  looks  in  about 
once  a  day.  During  the  past  vacation  and  holidays,  when  there  was  any 
work,  I  was  employed  by  an  architect  to  line  and  fill  in  plans  and  elevations, 
receiving  $2.50  per  day.  .  .  .  As  a  preparatory  school  for  the  university,  the 
course  has  one  disadvantage  in  my  opinion,  and  that  is,  it  is  too  thorough 
and  comprehensive  for  the  Freshman  year,  thereby  lessening  the  pleasure 
and  enjoyment  of  its  studies,  while  it  is  not  advanced  enough  for  the 
Sophomore  class." 


160  RECORD   AND    TESTIMONY   OF  GRADUATES.       [Chap.  V, 

His  employer  thus  writes  of  him  :  — 

"  A  young  and  energetic  boy  has  worked  in  my  office  during  vacation 
and  holidays,  and  his  knowledge  and  quick  perception  in  mechanism  and 
drawing  are  wonderful.  Practical  knowledge  is  the  road  to  success." 

No.  14  says :  — 

"  I  am  employed  as  rodman  on  the  White  River  Branch  Extension  of  the 
Missouri  Pacific  Railroad.  My  wages  are  $45.00  per  month,  and  I  do  not 
know  as  my  manual  training  school  education  places  me  on  any  better 
footing  than  other  young  men,  except  as  it  may  have  taught  me  to  swing  an 
axe.  This  is  a  heavily  wooded  country,  and  on  construction  there  are  a 
good  many  stakes  to  make  and  drive.  I  think  very  highly  of  my  manual 
training  school  training.  It  has  given  me  an  insight  into  many  things 
I  never  would  have  thought  of  or  investigated.  The  only  disadvantage  I 
have  found  is,  that  when  you  tell  people  that  you  are  a  graduate,  they  im- 
agine you  are  a  competent  mechanic,  and  are  disappointed  when  you  inform 
them  of  the  facts. 

"  I  would  advise  any  young  man  to  go  to  the  school,  who  was  going  to 
study  any  branch  of  engineering,  or  who  wanted  to  be  a  mechanic.  I  think 
it  would  be  a  fine  thing  for  him,  if  he  expected  to  rise  in  his  trade." 

No.  15  is  a  successful  teacher  of  manual  training.  His 
salary  the  present  year  is  11,050.  He  thus  writes  :  — 

"  I  think  my  training  at  your  school  is  the  best  I  could  have  received,  as 
the  combination  of  work  is  such  that  I  have  received  an  insight  into  the 
most  prominent  trades ;  and  it  has  placed  me  in  a  position  to  judge  intelli- 
gently what  trade  I  would  like  to  follow  for  a  livelihood.  It  has  made  me 
self-reliant,  and  I  feel  that  I  could  easily  learn  any  trade,  if  I  should  go  at 
it  in  the  systematic  order  that  we  followed  in  our  school- work ." 

He  then  proceeds  to  criticise  our  drawing,  and  adds :  — 

"  My  plan  for  drawing  would  be  to  have  it  more  closely  connected  with 
the  shop-work,  and  to  have  each  scholar  learn  the  fundamental  rules  of 
drawing,  and  not  have  the  teacher  do  so  much  work  for  the  students." 

My  readers  may  be  sure  that  I  attach  great  weight  to  this 
suggestion,  though  there  is  little  occasion  for  such  criticism 
now.  Of  this  young  man  the  city  school  superintendent  writes 
as  follows :  — 

"  I  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  Mr.  B.  manly,  intelligent,  prompt,  pre- 
cise, skillful  in  his  work,  competent  to  direct  it,  winning  the  confidence  of 
his  employers,  and  the  respect  of  his  pupils.  He  has  far  surpassed  our 


Chap,  V,]      DOES    WORK  OUT   OF   THE   ORDINARY  LINE.          161 

expectations.  ...  I  have  believed  that  the  manly  qualities  which  Mr.  B. 
seems  to  possess  in  an  eminent  degree  have  been  greatly  strengthened  by 
the  course  of  training  he  received  in  your  school." 

No.  16  is  a  boy  who  is  employed  in  a  brass  shop  and  foundry. 
His  experience  is  a  capital  illustration  of  the  general  value  of 
our  training. 

"  The  principal  part  of  my  work  is  the  making  of  wood  and  brass  pat- 
terns and  core-boxes,  and  keeping  them  in  order  ;  I  also  do  the  greater  part 
of  the  drawing  for  the  shop;  but  I  am  by  no  means  limited  to  these,  as,  for 
the  last  three  or  four  days  of  each  month,  I  am  called  to  help  get  work  out, 
and  to  help  Mr.  Jones  figure,  etc.  I  have  also  done  a  little  tool-work,  such 
as  turning,  milling,  hardening,  and  tempering  cock-reamers,  and  taps.  I 
also  have  made  a  few  cutters  for  a  monitor  lathe.  /  usually  get  the  work  that 
is  out  of  the  ordinary  line.  .  .  .  Since  writing  the  above  I  have  asked  my 
employer  his  opinion  [of  the  school  training].  His  answer  is  almost  the 
same  as  mine,  with  the  addition  that  the  instruction  received  so  broadens 
the  mind,  that  a  student's  selection  of  an  occupation  is  apt  to  be  more  intel- 
ligent. He  says  if  he  wanted  an  assistant,  draughtsman,  or  an  apprentice 
he  would  most  emphatically  select  one  from  the  Training  School." 

No.  17,  who  is  engaged  in  building,  heating,  etc.,  says :  — 

"My  prospects,  present  and  future,  are  favorable,  with  a  good  bank 
account  and  no  debts.  I  never  enjoyed  a  school  more,  or  felt  more  improved 
by  one.  I  think  the  '  Training  School '  helped  me  in  many  ways.  Before 
I  went  there,  I  took  no  interest  in  improvements,  such  as  buildings,  machin- 
ery, locks,  drawings,  etc.;  but  now  every  thing  of  that  kind  interests  me." 

No.  18  is  manly  and  kind.  T  see  in  what  he  says  a  criticism 
of  the  right  sort,  and  I  am  willing  that  my  readers  should  see 
it  too. 

"  As  to  ,my  general  training  at  the  school  I  can  say  nothing  less,  so  far  as 
I  am  now  able  to  see,  than  that  it  is  proving  to  be  of  inestimable  value, 
not  only  in  familiar  subjects,  but  in  subjects  radically  new.  Its  advantages 
are  in  being  perfectly  general,  and  fitting  for  almost  any  occupation.  I  have 
thus  far  been  unable  to  see  any  disadvantages.  What  I  consider  of  great 
importance  is  the  matter  of  every-day  English  composition ;  and  though  I 
do  not  deem  our  graduates  deficient  in  this  respect,  yet  I  think  that  addi- 
tional work  might  be  done  in  that  direction,  to  great  advantage.  Letters 
from  my  classmates  urge  me  to  make  this  remark." 

No.  19  is  from  a  student  taking  a  literary  course  in  a  uni- 
versity, preliminary  to  the  study  of  law.  He  says  :  — 


162  RECORD   AND    TESTIMONY   OF  GRADUATES.       [chap,  V, 

"  I  find  myself  greatly  retarded  by  my  ignorance  of  the  classics,  espe- 
cially Latin,  which  was  not  taught  in  the  school  when  my  class  graduated." 

Latin  is  now  taught  two  years  of  the  course.  He  adds :  — 
"  When  I  entered  I  was  rather  weak,  and  my  head  was  in  advance  of  my 
body.  The  work  at  the  school  developed  my  body,  and  gave  to  iny  mind  a 
clearer  and  more  practical  view  of  things.  If  a  person  intends  taking  an 
engineering  course,  I  should  advise  him  to  go  through  the  Manual  Training 
School  by  all  means.  To  a  person  intending  to  go  into  business,  I  think  the 
training  secured  by  the  combination  of  mental  and  manual  labor  is  almost 
invaluable.  I  have  a  brother  who  intends  to  go  into  business,  and  I  expect 
him  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  school  this  fall." 

No.  20  is  still  a  student  of  engineering. 

"In  reply  to  your  circular  of  the  twenty-fifth,  I  wish  to  say,  that  the 
instructions  which  I  received  at  the  Manual  Training  School  have  been  of 
great  benefit  to  me,  inasmuch  as  I  am  able  to  judge  of  the  quality  of  work 
which  I  see,  as  well  as  to  do  some  work  myself.  I  have  never  worked  steadily 
for  any  one  man,  for  the  reason  that  there  has  always  been  work  enough 
about  the  house  and  in  the  neighborhood  to  keep  me  busy  during  vacation. 

"  My  work  all  along  has  been  of  the  nature  of  odd  jobs  at  carpentering. 
In  this  way  I  have  been  able  to  earn,  on  an  average,  $2.00  a  day  for  every 
day  that  I  worked. 

"  The  instructions  in  drawing  combined  with  the  work  in  the  machine- 
shop  enabled  me,  by  the  time  I  had  finished  the  course,  to  understand  the 
general  construction  of  such  machinery  as  I  saw,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
form  some  idea  of  the  way  in  which  those  parts  which  are  hidden  from  view 
might  be  constructed.  To  one  who  desires  to  learn  a  profession  in  which 
construction  is  an  important  feature,  such  a  course  would  be  very  beneficial ; 
for  by  knowing  the  different  methods  by  which  an  article  can  be  made,  it 
seems  to  me  that  he  will  be  enabled  to  so  do  his  designing  as  to  avoid  all 
unnecessary  complications,  and  consequently  have  his  designs  worked  easily 
and  cheaply." 

No.  21  made  the  dynamo  that  lights  his  house. 

"  My  training  at  the  Manual  has  given  me  a  foundation  from  which  to 
work.  I  have  now  a  very  nice  shop  in  good  running  order;  I  have  a  four- 
horse  power  engine  (which  I  built  myself),  and  two  lathes  and  a  grindstone, 
running  almost  every  day,  while  myself  and  brothers  work  in  the  shop.  I 
think  that  every  boy,  no  matter  what  calling  he  intends  to  pursue,  should 
have  some  such  training  as  we  got  at  the  Manual." 

This  young  man  adds,  that  unfortunately 

"  The  average  boy  when  he  graduates  from  the  Manual  has  far  too  good  an 
opinion    of  his    abilities.      The  public  also  very  often   overestimates   the 


Chap,  V,]         FIRST  BRICKLAYER,    THEN  ARCHITECT.  163 

amount  of  training  which  one  gets  there.     They  think  that  he  is  a  finished 
mechanic." 

I  have  no  doubt  such  is  the  case.  As  to  the  conceit,  I  am 
not  sure  that  our  graduates  are  much  better  off  than  graduates 
of  other  schools.  We  try  to  cultivate  modesty,  and  to  show 
the  boys  the  vast  amount  of  their  ignorance. 

As  to  the  estimate  strangers  place  upon  our  work,  that  will 
right  itself  in  time. 

No.  22  is  a  student  of  architecture  at  Cornell  University. 
He  says :  — 

"  After  leaving  the  Training  School  I  went  to  work  at  the  bricklaying 
trade.  I  had  worked  at  it  during  vacation,  while  attending  the  Training 
School.  It  took  me  altogether  about  two  years  to  learn  my  trade,  the 
regular  apprenticeship  being  four  years.  I  attribute  the  aptness  with  which 
J  learned  my  trade  to  the  excellent  training  received  at  the  Manual  Training 
School.  During  my  last  year  at  the  trade  I  received  full  wages,  $4.50  per  day. 

"  I  think  the  course  of  study  at  the  Manual  Training  School  a  splendid 
thing ;  and  I  would  advise  every  young  man,  no  matter  what  his  occupation 
in  after  life  may  be,  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  such  an  education, 
if  it  is  in  his  power.  It  enables  one  to  better  understand  the  doings  and 
workings  of  our  scientific  world,  and  at  the  same  time,  it  brings  with  it  an 
appreciation  of  good  workmanship  and  skill  in  the  use  of  tools." 

No.  23  was  a  farmer's  boy;  now  he  is  teaching  shop-work  and 
drawing. 

"  I  think  that  I  have  an  insight  into  the  care,  use,  and  abuse  of  tools  and 
machinery,  so  that  I  could  or  would  be  more  likely  to  get  a  position  in  a 
shop,  or  begin  business  for  myself.  Most  of  my  knowledge  of  tools  I  got 
there  at  school,  for  I  had  touched  not  even  a  jack-plane  before  I  went  there. 
A  good  point  is,  that  it  gives  a  broader  education,  and  makes  a  true  feeling 
for  honest  labor  and  good  workmanship  wherever  you  see  it." 

His  father  adds  :  — 

"  A  farmer's  boy,  after  going  through  that  school,  can  mend  and  make 
many  things  that  would  have  to  be  taken  to  a  machine-shop,  or  can  see 
what  is  the  matter  with  a  machine  that  is  out  of  order.  Nowadays  a 
farmer  must  have  a  good  understanding  of  tools  and  machinery,  we  have  to 
use  so  much  of  them.  If  I  was  going  to  hire  a  man,  I  would  sooner  have  a 
graduate  of  the  Manual  Training  School." 

No.  24  is  evidently  well  pleased  with  his  prospects. 
"  My  position  and  pay  rank  far  above  those  of  other  young  men  in  similar 
business." 


164  RECORD    AND    TESTIMONY  OF  GRADUATES.      [chap.  V, 

No.  25.     This  young  man  is  an  Illinois  farmer. 

"  I  am  married,  and  have  a  little  boy ;  and  if  he  lives,  and  I  can  afford  it, 
he  shall  go  through  the  entire  course  of  the  Manual  Training  School.  By 
this  you  may  infer  what  my  ideas  are  as  to  the  advantage  of  manual  train- 
ing over  commercial  or  common  high  schools.  I  have  been  putting  my 
money  into  stock  and  farming  implements,  although  I  have  good  reason  to 
believe  that  I  make  as  much  or  more  money  than  my  neighbors,  some  of 
whom  are  old  and  experienced  farmers ;  not  that  I  raise  better  crops  or 
work  harder ;  but  that  I  have  saved  and  am  saving  a  good  many  dollars 
which  they  give  to  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  or  wagon-makers,  for  repair- 
work,  which  I  do  myself,  with  the  skill  I  obtained  while  at  school.  As  soon 
as  I  move,  I  expect  to  fix  me  a  blacksmith  and  carpenter  shop,  and  increase 
my  present  incomplete  set  of  tools,  with  which  I  expect  to  do  all  of  my  own 
and  part  of  my  neighbors'  repair-work,  which  will  be  a  great  saving  in 
money  and  time." 

No.  26  is  with  a  gas  company.     He  began  at  the  bottom. 

"  My  wages  are  $66.66§  per  month,  $800.00  per  year.  I  consider  my  train- 
ing at  the  school  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  me,  as  I  think  that  my  knowledge 
of  tools,  besides  my  learning  in  the  three  R's,  was  what  helped  me  to  get  my 
place  as  inspector.  I  used  what  knowledge  I  had  of  tools  to  the  advantage 
of  the  company,  especially  that  of  blacksmithing ;  but  my  machine-work 
and  carpentry  come  in  handy  now  and  then.  If  I  had  not  given  satisfaction 
down-stairs,  I  would  never  have  been  up-stairs." 

No.  27  is  making  himself  valuable  to  the  lawyers. 

"  In  December,  1885,  I  commenced  in  the  drawing  room  at  $5.00  a  week. 
I  worked  hard  to  make  myself  valuable,  and  in  two  months  and  a  half  I  re- 
ceived $6.20,  and  very  soon  after  that  $7.25  per  week.  In  May,  1886, 1  was 
offered  a  situation  with  my  present  employers  as  draughtsman  at  $50.00  a 
month,  and  after  due  consideration  I  accepted  the  same.  When  I  informed 
my  former  employers  of  my  intentions,  they  wanted  to  know  if  I  would 
remain  with  them  at  $50.00  a  month;  but  I  had  accepted  this  place,  so  I 
had  to  refuse.  My  work  with  this  firm  is  making  all  the  plats  for  certifi- 
cates, examinations,  and  abstracts  of  land-titles,  as  well  as  entering  in  our 
plat-books  all  the  subdivisions  and  additions  recorded  in  the  court-house. 

"  I  can  not  well  compare  myself  or  my  salary  with  any  one  in  the  office, 
since  I  am  by  many  years  the  youngest  in  the  office,  and  most  of  our  clerks 
are  lawyers.  Should  I  ever  be  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  son,  and  be  able 
to  send  him  there,  he  shall  certainly  go  to  the  Manual  Training  School." 

I  could  quote  much  more  fully  and  from  many  more,  but 
these  must  suffice.  The  attendance  in  our  school  of  younger 


Chap.  V,]  AN  INVENTOR   AND   DESIGNER.  165 

brothers  and  friends  of  graduates  is  the  best  commentary  on 
our  work. 

It  is  possible  that  some  one  may  think,  after  seeing  for  himself 
some  of  the  fruits  of  manual  training,  that  I  have  overstated 
their  value ;  that  I  have  colored  my  picture  too  highly.  But 
I  have  tried  to  be  fair.  Often  have  people,  who  have  read  my 
reports  or  heard  my  addresses,  said  to  me,  after  actually  seeing 
the  school  at  work,  "It  is  much  better  and  larger  and  finer 
than  I  expected."  I  am  thus  led  to  believe  that  I  am  not  in 
the  habit  of  exaggerating. 

A  word  more.  About  half  the  boys  who  attend  the  school 
get  less  than  the  whole  course.  For  a  great  variety  of  reasons 
they  drop  out.  A  much  larger  per  cent  of  such  boys  become 
mechanics  than  of  the  graduates.  I  have  had  many  excellent 
reports  from  and  concerning  them.  But  I  have  not  kept  the 
reports  on  file. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  received  a  letter,  which  is 
good  enough  to  cause  me  to  open  the  case  once  more.  I  give 
all  but  the  formal  beginning  arid  end  of  the  letter.  The  writer 
was  a  graduate  in  the  year  1883.  His  record  was  that  of  a 
good,  careful  student,  not  brilliant,  but  on  the  contrary  so  slow 
as  to  cause  him  at  times  to  appear  dull.  He  entered  this  pipe- 
factory  soon  after  leaving  school ;  and  one  of  the  first  things  I 
heard  about  him  was,  that  he  had  invented  and  made  a  new  tool, 
by  which  he  had  been  able  to  outstrip  the  old  hands  who  had 
been  turning  for  years. 

No.  28.     He  now  says  :  — 

"  My  work  is  that  of  turning  all  kinds  of  fancy  and  common  parts  of  the 
corn-cob  pipe,  and  I  am  classed  on  my  employer's  books  as  'head  turner.' 
My  present  or  recent  wages  per  month  are  from  $60.00  to  $90.00,  depending 
on  the  kind  of  work  given  me;  while  other  turners  draw  from  $40.00  to 
$65.00  per  month.  I  hold  the  best  position  in  the  house,  next  to  the  fore- 
man, and  average  about  $10.00  or  $20.00  a  month  more  than  men  of  my 
age  in  the  establishment. 

"  My  training  at  the  Manual  Training  School  has  been  of  great  benefit  to 
me  many  times,  and  in  many  places.  I  have  made  drawings  for  machines, 
designs  [for  pipes],  patterns,  tools,  and  machines  of  different  kinds.  Other 
positions  have  been  offered  me,  but  as  I  have  a  mother  and  three  sisters  to 
care  for,  I  preferred  to  stay  in  Washington  [Mo.]. 


166  RECORD  AND    TESTIMONY  OF  GRADUATES.       [Chap,  V, 

"  Mr.  K ,  one  of  the  managers,  told  me  the  other  day,  they  expected  to 

make  me  foreman  after  Jan.  1,  1887;  a  very  good  position,  paying  from 
$125.00  to  $150.00  per  month. 

"  I  would  advise  any  young  man  to  attend  the  Manual  Training  School,  if 
he  wishes  to  be  constantly  employed  and  make  good  wages.  If  he  wants  to 
be  an  engineer,  let  him  attend  that  school  before  entering  the  polytechnic. 

"  Enclosed  please  find  Messrs.  H.  T.  &  Co.'s  answer  to  question  six." 

The  letter  from  the  .firm,  addressed  to  him,  is  entire  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

DEAR  SIR,  —  With  pleasure  we  answer  question  six  of  circular  submitted 
to  us  by  you. 

Your  position  you  owe  to  your  training  at  the  Manual  Training  School. 
Our  oft-repeated  consultation  regarding  new  shapes  or  styles  of  goods  would 
show  that  your  "ability  to  understand  what  is  new  "  was  duly  appreciated  by 
this  firm. 

Yes,  if  all  the  graduates  of  the  Manual  Training  School  showed  such 
intelligence,  promptness,  and  precision  as  we  found  in  you,  we  would  cer- 
tainly give  such  graduates  a  preference. 

Respectfully  yours, 
[Signed]  H.  T.  &  Co. 

Will  some  one  complain  that  these  young  men  have  no  high 
ideals?  that  they  do  not  quote  classic  examples  of  patriotism 
and  devotion  to  lofty  aims  and  high  arts?  Will  it  be  asserted 
that  their  ideas  of  life  are  unpoetic,  materialistic,  limited  to  good 
wages  and  methods  of  "  getting  on  "  in  the  world  ?  If  so,  I 
shall  say  in  reply,  I  am  willing  to  trust  the  future  for  evi- 
dence of  right  and  noble  living.  My  confidence  would  be  less, 
if  they  talked  more  about  it. 

I  claim  (and  this  is  what  this  chapter  is  written  for)  that 
these  young  men  are  well  fitted  to  exhibit  in  their  lives  the 
fruits  of  a  good  beginning  in  education. 

What  are  these  fruits?  A  writer  in  the  Century  for  June, 
1887,1  gives  them  thus  :  — 

"  To  think ;  to  reason ;  to  feel  nobly ;  to  see  the  relations  of  things ;  to 
put  the  ages  together  in  their  grand  progress  ;  to  trace  causes ;  to  prophesy 
results  ;  to  discern  the  sources  of  power ;  to  find  true  beginnings  instead  of 
unknowable  causes ;  to  perceive  the  moral  as  governing  the  intellectual,  and 

1  T.  T.  HUNGER,  on  Education  and  Social  Progress. 


Chap,  V,]  MAKING    GOOD   CITIZENS.  167 

both  as  dominating  the  material ;  to  discern  the  lines  along  which  humanity 
is  moving,  and  distinguish  them  from  the  eddies  of  the  day,  —  such  is  the 
end  of  education." 

The  statement  suits  me  as  well  as  it  can  him,  tho  he  is  per- 
haps thinking  of  ancient  history  more  than  I  am.  I  am  thinking 
of  the  present  and  its  demands  ;  of  these  young  men  as  future 
leaders,  workers,  advisers,  and  promoters  of  good  society  and 
good  citizenship  and  good  government ;  and  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  trust  them. 

The  art  of  feeling  nobly  cometh  not  with  observation.  As  a 
star  is  often  best  seen  when  we  are  not  looking  full  at  it,  so 
a  high  standard  in  lofty  matters  is  often  best  reached  through 
high  standards  in  ordinary  matters. 

Finally,  I  protest  against  that  false  logic  which  contends  on 
the  one  hand,  that,  because  the  old  system  of  education  ad- 
mitted no  utilitarian  motives,  all  its  fruits  must  be  noble ;  and 
on  the  other,  that,  because  the  new  education  recognizes  utility 
as  a  legitimate  end,  all  its  fruits  must  be  ignoble. 


168  THE  RESULTS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [Chap,  VI 


CHAPTER   VI. 

WHAT    OTHERS    WHO     HAVE    SEEN    IT    SAY    OF    THE 
RESULTS    OF     MANUAL    TRAINING. 

THE  author  is  aware  that  he  is  not  writing  for  those  who 
are  familiar  with  the  working  of  a  manual  training  school. 
He  knows,  also,  that  the  success  of  his  school  has  often  been 
attributed  to  exceptionally  good  material  in  the  pupils,  to 
superior  teachers,  and  to  the  "  contagious  enthusiasm  "  of  its 
director.  Its  failure  under  other  conditions  has  often  been 
predicted.  It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if,  when  other  schools 
exhibit  so  many  failures,  i't  too  did  not  occasionally  fail. 

The  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School  was  organized  as 
such.  It  had  had  no  experience  as  an  ordinary  academy.  It 
does  not  have  two  records  which  can  be  compared.  Let  me 
then  turn  to  other  witnesses,  to  other  schools,  and  to  other 
teachers  for  testimony  as  to  the  effect  of  manual  training  when 
incorporated  with  high  schools,  and  under  the  charge  of  other 
teachers  and  directors.  I  do  not  quote  from  theorizers ;  I 
quote  from  observers,  and  I  take  them  quite  at  random. 

The  first  I  cut  from  the  Journal  of  Education  of  March 
31,  1887,  in  its  report  of  the  superintendents'  convention  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  during  the  same  month.  The  italics  are 
mine. 

"H.  W.  Compton,  superintendent  of  schools  of  Toledo,  O.,  entered 
upon  the  discussion  extemporaneously.  He  outlined  what  is  being  done  in 
the  city  of  Toledo  in  manual  training,  and  bore  testimony  to  the  enthusiasm 
and  earnestness  of  the  pupils  receiving  instruction  in  manual  training.  The 
boys  have  done  their  shop-work  and  daily  mental  school-work  generally 
with  eminent  success.  The  departments  are  all  well  sustained,  especially 
that  of  domestic  economy.  Manual  training  lias  increased  the  attendance,  in 
the  high  school  of  Toledo  fully  one-third.  It  is  an  invaluable  factor  in  the 
public  schools  of  Toledo  to  promote  industry.  Pupils  love  the  work;  it 


Chap.  VI,]  IT  INCREASES   THE  ATTENDANCE.  169 

cures   idleness,   dignifies   and  exalts  labor  as  well   as   thought-power.     It 
stimulates  habits  of  observation  and  investigation." 

Under  date  of  -March  31,  1887,  the  superintendent  of  manual 
training  in  the  Toledo  High  School,  Mr.  R.  H.  Miller,  writes 
me  :  — 

"  Our  girls  are  doing  splendid  work  ;  their  mechanical  drawing  is  neater 
and  if  any  thing  better  than  that  of  the  boys.  .  .  .  We  find  that  the  work 
done  by  our  girls  (from  drawings)  in  carpentry  and  wood-carving  assists  them 
wonderfully  in  drawing,  and  gives  them  a  degree  of  confidence  that  those 
who  simply  draw  do  not  get." 

I  have  repeatedly  said,  that  drawing  without  shop-work  loses 
half  its  value  ;  and  so  shop-work  without  drawing  is  educa- 
tionally inferior.  Mr.  Miller  continues  :  — 

"It  is  expected  that  the  manual-training  pupils  [i.e.  those  high-school 
pupils  who  elect  manual  training]  will  carry  off  all  the  honors  next  June. 
The  interest  of  the  pupils  seems  to  steadily  increase  as  they  get  deeper  into 
the  work,  and  handle  more  complicated  machinery.  Our  boys  seem  to  think 
it  their  duty  to  make  life  a  burden  to  any  one  who  speaks  a  disrespectful 
word  regarding  the  Manual  Training  School.  The  most  severe  punishment 
we  can  inflict  upon  a  pupil  is  to  require  him  to  sit  in  the  high  school,  and 
study  during  his  shop  and  drawing  hours.  We  watch  the  pupils  closely, 
and  when  one  falls  a  little  low  in  his  average  we  cut  off  his  manual  work 
for  a  few  days,  or  until  he  redeems  himself;  this  seldom  fails  to  bring  him 
to  the  required  standard  in  short  order." 

The  German  teacher  of  the  Toledo  school  wrote  me  last 
year  that  the  manual  work  had  had  such  a  stimulating  effect 
upon  the  pupils,  that  he  could  easily  tell,  from  the  high  quality 
of  their  work  in  German,  which  of  his  class  took  manual 
training. 

Prof.  J.  M.  Ordway,  speaking  of  the  observed  influence  of 
manual  training  in  the  Tulane  High  School,  New  Orleans, 
says :  — 

"  But  even  with  the  present  imperfect  development,  the  indications  are, 
that  it  tends  to  awaken  and  keep  up  the  interest  of  pupils  in  all  the  school 
exercises ;  for  by  it  they  acquire  juster  ideas  of  the  relation  between  books 
and  actual  things.  They  see  that  the  school  is  a  place  for  real,  earnest 
work.  They  gain  the  habit  of  close  attention  to  whatever  is  to  be  done.  ^ 
They  learn  to  be  patient  and  exact  in  the  performance  of  tasks.  They  find 
that  they  have  power  to  do  something  of  themselves,  and  hence  are  likely 


170  THE  RESULTS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [ Chap,  VI, 

to  acquire  a  manly  self-reliance.  They  do  not  lose  time  which  ought  to  be 
devoted  to  intellectual  studies ;  for  it  is  found,  that,  without  over-exertion, 
they  accomplish  quite  as  much  in  these  studies  as  they  did  before  hand-work 
was  introduced.  They  gain  by  alternating  hand-work  with  pure  brain-work, 
and  thus  resting  without  being  idle.  The  surplus  activity  of  youth,  which 
is  too  prone  to  vent  itself  in  mischief,  is  allowed  to  find  scope  in  useful  and 
pleasant  employment." 

Prof.  Kuno  Franke  of  Harvard  University  recently  wrote  as 
follows  in  a  letter  to  a  German  paper  :  — 

"  Since  the  days  of  Rousseau,  the  effort  to  educate  the  rising  generation 
in  a  more  harmonious  way  than  is  possible  in  a  school  which  aims  only  at 
the  acquisition  of  mere  scholarship  has  never  been  abandoned.  The  empha- 
sis which  the  followers  of  Basedow  laid  upon  the  gain  of  useful  knowledge ; 
the  thought  of  Pestalozzi,  that  the  first  step  in  education  consists  in  the 
schooling  of  the  will,  while  mental  discipline  must  be  treated  as  something 
secondary ;  Father  John's  gymnastics ;  Froebel's  successful  attempt  to  de- 
velop reason  through  the  cultivation  of  the  senses;  and,  finally,  the  meas- 
ures which  have  led  to  the  establishment  and  growth  of  the  polytechnic 
school,  —  all  these  manifestations  are  still  only  symptoms  of  the  one  funda- 
mental idea,  that  education  must  be  directed,  not  to  know,  but  to  be  able  to 
do,  not  to  words,  but  to  deeds. 

"  It  appears  to  me  that  nowhere  yet  has  this  idea  reached  such  a  methodical 
expression  as  in  the  Manual  Training  School  of  St.  Louis ;  which,  unlike  our 
German  trade  schools  (in  which  only  one  craft  or  occupation  is  taught  to 
artisans),  appeals  to  the  whole  community,  and  aims  at  general  pedagogical 
objects. 

"  At  a  recent  visit  to  St.  Louis,  I  convinced  myself  personally  of  the 
nourishing  condition  of  the  institution.  In  the  turning  division  to  which  I 
was  first  led,  the  instruction  had  just  begun.  The  teacher  manufactured 
a  wooden  cylinder  before  the  class,  giving  at  the  same  time  the  necessary 
explanation  of  the  proportions  of  the  object  to  be  made,  and  the  methods  of 
handling  the  tools.  The  pupils  were  encouraged  to  ask  for  further  informa- 
tion by  willing  answers.  Then  the  pupils  began  work,  each  at  a  separate 
lathe.  .  .  .  Subsequently  I  witnessed  the  English  instruction.  The  class 
was  just  reading  As  You  Like  It.  The  pupils  interpreted  the  context 
and  language  in  a  thoroughly  scientific  manner.  ...  I  was  sorry  to  find, 
on  returning  to  the  shop,  that  the  closing  hour  had  come ;  and  I  could  see 
little  more  than  a  gay  group  of  lads,  with  faces  and  hands  soiled  at  the 
forge,  with  singing  and  jokes,  washing  and  preparing  for  lunch.  Still  I 
could  enjoy  the  impression  of  health  and  vigor  which  every  thing  possessed 
which  I  saw  in  the  institution.1 

1  .In  the  face  of  this  testimony  of  an  actual  observer,  a  recent  remark  by 
the  editor  of  The  Illinois  Teacher,  hi  his  issue  for  April,  1887,  reads  strangely 


Chap.  VI.]  OF  SPECIAL   PROFIT   TO   STUDENTS.  171 

"  The  majority  of  the  graduates  turn  naturally  to  the  technical  occupa- 
tions; but  not  a  few,  and  their  number  is  constantly  increasing,  go  into 
the  law,  medicine,  philology,  or  natural  science.  And  it  does  not  seem 
improbable  to  me  that  just  these  will  draw  special  profit  from  the  education 
gained  here.  Perhaps  nowhere  is  there  greater  danger  of  losing  the  founda- 
tion of  clear  observation  and  sound  reasoning  than  where  the  objects  of 
investigation  are  either  themselves  of  an  intellectual  nature,  or  are  only 
conceived  of  in  a  frame  of  hypothesis.  It  is  just  this  danger  which,  above 
all,  this  school  aims  to  avoid.  He  who  has  learned  to  use  his  hands  system- 
atically has  now  a  clearer  conception  between  thought  and  fact,  between 
theory  and  practice  ;  and  this  clearer  knowledge  will  enable  him  to  form 
more  correct  judgments  in  those  two  great  spheres  of  observation,  the  real 
and  the  ideal,  than  is  possible  for  one  whose  power  of  observation  has  been 
cultivated  exclusively  in  ideal  things." 

I  commend  these  observations  and  reflections  of  Prof.  Franke 
to  the  thoughtful  consideration  of  my  readers. 

A  visitor,  who  writes  over  the  name  of  Mortimer  Warren, 

says :  — 

"  The  difference  between  the  ordinary,  stupid,  dirty  mechanic's  apprentice 
and  one  of  these  intelligent,  handy,  clean,  gentlemanly  lads  is  as  that 
between  night  and  day." 

Mr.  L.  E.  Holden  of  Cleveland,  O.,  thus  wrote  in  the  "  Cleve- 
land Herald  :"— 

"  I  have  been  particularly  impressed  by  my  recent  visit  to  Washington 
University  in  St.  Louis,  and  especially  with  the  department  of  manual 
training.  I  cannot  go  through  with  all  the  details  of  the  shops  and  work- 
rooms, but  I  will  give  one  lesson  to  which  I  listened,  that  you  may  see  how 
great  an  improvement  in  the  practical  arts  this  manual  training  has  over  the 
ordinary  schoolroom.  [He  then  describes  the  lesson  in  "molding."]  I 
was  particularly  impressed  with  the  attention  which  every  boy  gave.  Passing 
on  to  another  room,  a  higher  class  were  putting  together  a  steam  engine, 
every  part  of  which  had  been  made  by  the  boys  themselves. 

"  Now  it  must  not  be  thought  that  these  boys  were  neglecting  their 
studies,  or  rather  their  books,  for  they  were  not.  They  were  giving  very 
close  attention  to  the  same  class  of  studies  as  are  pursued  in  ordinary  [high] 

enough.  He  says,  in  substance,  that  it  is  quite  possible  that,  for  a  time,  it  may  be 
found  practicable  to  employ  a  boy's  time  for  play  in  some  sort  of  "  useful  "  work; 
but  that  in  the  end  it  will  be  seen  that  "  all  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull 
boy."  Evidently  he  thinks  a  manual  training  school  a  "dull"  school  as  com- 
pared with  the  old  style.  Of  course  he  has  never  visited  a  manual  school,  and 
he  has  no  proper  conception  of  its  bright,  happy,  stimulating  atmosphere. 


172  THE  RESULTS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.          [Chap,  VI 

schools,  and  from  personal  observation  I  am  convinced  that  they  are  as  far 
advanced  at  the  same  age  as  boys  in  our  graded  schools  who  are  learning 
nothing  except  what  they  get  from  books. 

"...  Now,  then,  let  us  see  which  class  of  boys  would  go  out  into  the 
world  at  the  age  of  eighteen  or  twenty  years  with  the  best  prospects  for  life 
and  good-citizenship.  No  one  can  doubt  that  the  boy  who  is  most  practi- 
cally trained  would  have  by  far  the  better  chance  for  life.  If  we  review  the 
lives  of  the  leading  men  of  our  country,  in  business,  in  profession,  and  in 
statesmanship,  is  it  not  strictly  true  that  a  very  large  majority  have  been 
boys  who  in  early  life  learned  to  work  with  their  hands ;  who  had  virtually 
the  advantage  of  a  manual  training,  which  gave  them  superior  advantages 
in  physical  force,  in  a  knowledge  of  practical  things ;  in  short,  in  all  that 
goes  to  the  making  up  of  a  stanch  manhood  ?  " 

Col.  Augustus  Jacobson  of  Chicago,  who  has  been  a  frequent 
visitor  to  the  St.  Louis  school,1  writes  thus  to  a  Cleveland 
paper : — 

"  The  parent  who  sees  a  manual  training  school  in  operation  sees  solved 
before  his  eyes  the  problem  how  his  boy  may  be  sure  to  make  a  good  living 
in  the  world.  ...  To  the  extent  of  the  number  of  the  graduates  of  the 
Manual  Training  School,  the  nation  is  sure  of  intelligent  and  valuable 
citizens.  When  these  boys  enter  active  life  they  will  not  need  to  wait  for 
'something  to  turn  up,'  because  they  will  be  able  to  turn  up  something 
for  themselves.  If  all  our  boys  were  so  trained,  we  need  give  ourselves  no 
anxiety  for  the  future." 

In  the  preface  of  his  admirable  book  on  "Manual  Train- 
ing," 2  Mr.  Ham  of  Chicago  says :  — 

"In  1880  my  attention  was  drawn  to  the  manual  training  department 
of  the  Washington  University  of  St.  Louis.  In  that  school  I  found  the 
realization  of  Bacon's  aphorism,  '  Education  is  the  cultivation  of  a  just  and 
legitimate  familiarity  betwixt  the  mind  and  things.'  I  made  an  exhaustive 
study  of  the  methods  of  the  St.  Louis  school,  and  reached  the  conclusion 
that  the  philosopher's  stone  in  education  had  been  discovered." 

Some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  enthusiasm  of  a  .stu- 
dent, but  too  much  can  scarcely  be  said  of  Mr.  Ham's  efficient 
service  in  making  manual  training  known  to  the  people  of 
Chicago. 


1  Col.  Jacobson  was  the  first  to  call  attention  of  Chicago  to  our  school,  and  to 
resolve  that  Chicago  should  have  a  similar  one.    Tho  he  found  a  score  of  able 
assistants  in  the  enterprise,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Augustus  Jacobson  was 
the  father  of  the  Chicago  Manual  Training  School. 

2  Manual  Training,  by  Charles  H.  Ham.    Harper  Brothers.     1886. 


Chap,  VI]    THE  PHILOSOPHER'S   STONE  IN  EDUCATION.        173 

Henry  M.  James,  Esq.,  the  superintendent  of  the  schools  of 
Omaha,  Neb.,  where  manual  training  has  been  introduced  as  an 
elective  course  in  the  high  school,  says,  in  his  last  report :  — 

"  The  course  has  been  optional,  those  taking  it  doing  the  same  academic 
work  as  the  rest  of  the  school.  Arranged  in  classes  of  twenty  each,  they 
have  spent  one  and  one-half  hours  daily  in  the  shop  under  the  care  of  a 
competent  instructor,  learning  light  carpentry  and  how  to  use  and  take  care 
of  tools.  The  teacher  has  been  enthusiastic,  and  the  interest  of  the  boys  has 
been  lively  and  well  sustained. 

"  It  is  evident  that  manual  training  schools  can  not  be  conducted  without 
considerable  expense,  but  for  this  year  our  shop  has  not  cost  more  than  some 
of  the  regular  studies  of  the  high  school.  It  seems  evident,  also,  that  a 
department  of  this  kind  has  a  tendency  to  hold  boys  in  school  at  a  time 
when  there  is  a  strong  inclination  to  leave  and  go  into  business.  Our  high 
school  and  eighth  grade  have  felt  this  [inclination  to  leave],  and  suffered 
from  it  as  much  as  any  school  in  the  land;  yet  of  the  seventy-nine  boys 
who  took  manual  training  last  year,  seventy-Jive  remained  in  school  to  the 
close  of  the  year.  This  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  the  history  of  the  Omaha 
schools." 

Speaking  of  his  recent  visit  to  the  Philadelphia  Manual 
Training  School,  the  accomplished  editor  of  the  Journal  of 
Education,  Dr.  A.  E.  Winship  of  Boston,  says :  — 

"  In  neatness,  in  discipline,  in  perfection  of  execution,  in  balancing  and 
blending  activities,  the  school  leaves  little  to  be  desired.  The  work  is  so 
systematic,  its  results  so  definite,  its  effect  upon  the  mind,  hand,  and  character 
so  marked,  that  all  objectors  will  do  well  to  visit  this  institution,  and  take 
the  time  to  study  its  working  before  making  up  their  verdict." 

After  nearly  a  year's  observation  of  the  work  and  influence 
of  the  Toledo  Manual  Training  School,  Superintendent  Dowd, 
now  of  Toronto,  says  :  — 

"  It  is  certainly  true  that  the  training  of  a  manual  training  school  lets  in  a 
flood  of  light  upon  a  thousand  things  but  imperfectly  understood  before." 

Mr.  E.  R.  Boyer  of  Central  Illinois,  a  successful  teacher  and 
superintendent  of  several  years'  experience,  recently  spent  two 
months  in  a  manual  training  school,  studying  its  methods,  and 
acquiring  a  practical  knowledge  of  its  drawing  and  shop-work. 
He  gives  the  following  statement  of  his  observation  of  the 
character  and  influence  of  its  work  :  — 


174  THE  RESULTS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.          [Chap,  VL 

"  In  no  schoolroom  have  I  ever  seen  more  respectful,  courteous,  and  gen- 
tlemanly deportment  by  the  boys  than  I  met  in  the  shops  of  the  manual 
training  school.  Whether  at  the  work-bench,  forge,  lathe,  or  at  their  books, 
the  boys  are  prompt,  attentive,  and  industrious ;  ready  to  make  an  honest 
effort  and  eager  to  excel.  In  the  shops,  system,  order,  and  thoroughness 
characterize  the  work.  No  hap-hazard  use  of  tools  and  materials  is  allowed ; 
the  boy,  while  learning  the  use  of  certain  tools,  and  acquiring  skill  with  the 
same,  is  also  held  accountable  to  the  instructor  for  the  immediate  product  of 
his  labor  and  material. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  this  school  tends  to  foster  a  due  appreciation  of  the 
dignity  of  intelligent  labor,  and  leads  the  boy  to  recognize,  appreciate,  and 
respect,  skill  and  efficiency  in  the  mechanical  occupations;  and  that  the 
school  is  accomplishing  in  a  very  large  measure  its  chief  purpose,  —  that  of 
developing  simultaneously  the  intellectual  and  physical  powers  of  the  boys 
under  its  charge." 

The  prospectus  of  the  Cleveland  Manual  Training  School, 
opened  in  1886,  says :  — 

"  In  February,  1885,  a  small  carpenter  shop  was  started  in  a  barn  situated 
on  Kennard  Street,  near  Euclid  Avenue,  for  the  benefit  of  some  boys,  then 
pupils  in  the  Central  High  School. 

"  Through  the  diligence  and  enthusiasm  of  those  boys,  the  little  school 
and  the  value  of  manual  training  was  brought  to  the  notice  of  some  of  the 
business  men  of  this  city." 

The  Cleveland  school  was  organized  by  Mr.  Newton  M. 
Anderson,  who  is  still  in  charge  of  it  in  its  new,  well-appointed 
quarters,  in  immediate  connection  with  the  high  school. 

After  several  years  of  the  most  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
work  of  the  Mechanic  Art  School  connected  with  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology  of  Boston,  Prof.  J.  D.  Runkle 
comes  to  these  conclusions :  — 

"  While  the  training  of  the  mental  faculties  must  always  be  the  first  and 
distinct  aim  of  all  education,  still  this  training  is  most  effective  when  all  the 
senses  are  most  fully  brought  into  play  as  factors  in  the  general  process. 

"  We  believe  that  hand  instruction,  no  matter  of  what  kind,  if  adapted  to 
the  age  of  the  pupil,  and  properly  conducted,  can  be  made  disciplinary,  and 
a  valuable  adjunct  to  the  purely  literary  studies." 

Mr.  James  A.  Page  of  Boston,  principal  of  the  Dwight  Gram- 
mar School,  in  which  manual  training  was  tried  in  1882,  thus 
reports :  — 


Chap,  VI,]    A   POSITIVE  BENEFIT   TO   OTHER    STUDIES.  175 

"  From  the  beginning  to  the  close  the  school  went  on  with  unbroken  and 
successful  regularity.  The  teacher  was  promptly  on  hand,  the  order  was 
good,  the  pupils  interested.  It  was  delightful  to  see  the  eager  desire  mani- 
fested everywhere  in  the  room  to  do  the  day's  work  well.  There  was  no 
absence,  no  tardiness.  ...  I  consider  that  the  results  go  far  to  prove  that 
manual  training  is  so  great  a  relief  to  the  iteration  of  school-work  that  it  is 
a  positive  benefit,  rather  than  a  detriment,  to  the  course  of  the  other 
studies.  ...  I  have  a  conviction  that  this  instruction  is  surely  in  the  line 
of  the  teaching  that  is  to  be.  .  .  .  There  are  high  authorities  who  believe 
that  there  can  be  no  thoroughly  clear,  vigorous,  and  enlightened  brain  with- 
out the  cultivated  hand." 

Prof.  Ripper,  superintendent  of  what  is  practically  a  manual 
training  school  in  Sheffield,  Eng.,  thus  modestly  speaks  of  the 
result  of  his  observations  upon  the  effect  of  manual  training. 
When  he  says  that  such  and  such  things  will  result,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  he  speaks  from  a  definite  knowledge  of 
what  has  been  effected  under  his  own  eyes.  I  quote  from  a 
recent  address :  — 

"  Hitherto  we  have  been  endeavoring  to  train  the  intelligence  of  the  chil- 
dren by  attempting  an  early  development  of  the  power  of  abstract  reasoning, 
and  by  cramming  their  little  minds  with  unintelligible  facts ;  the  object 
being  often,  not  so  much  to  educate,  as  to  pass  a  certain  number  at  the 
annual  examination.  The  contrast  between  such  a  system  for  young  chil- 
dren, and  the  more  natural  system  of  drawing  out  the  intelligence  through 
the  exercise  of  the  hand  and  the  eye,  as  in  the  kindergarten  method,  is  suf- 
ficient to  make  one  wonder  that  we  have  been  content  to  plod  on  in  the  old 
method  so  long. 

"But  in  what  way  will  manual  training  improve  this  condition  of  things? 
In  this  way.  It  will  provide  the  connecting  link  between  the  theory  of  the 
school  and  the  practice  of  the  workshops,  between  books  and  tools,  and 
between  abstract  rules  and  phrases  and  the  reality  of  things.  It  will  teach 
the  dignity  of  labor  by  example  rather  than  by  precept.  It  will  help  to 
form  industrious,  useful  habits  early  in  life,  and  give  a  taste  for  doing  use- 
ful work  with  the  hands,  which  thousands  never  acquire.  It  will  be  a  valu- 
able relief  from  the  sedentary,  inactive  life  of  the  school,  and  so  counteract 
the  present  tendency  to  develop  a  race  of  dyspeptic,  pale-faced  children, 
whose  goal  is  passing  examinations,  and  whose  ambition  is  to  be  somebody's 
bookkeeper.  It  will  cultivate  a  respect  for  the  worker,  and  an  appreciation 
of  the  worth  of  his  work,  by  direct  personal  contact  with  it,  whereby  it  will 
be  discovered  how  much  there  is  to  learn  in  order  to  acquire  the  power 
possessed  by  the  skilled  handicraftsman.  In  addition  to  this,  it  will  provide 
the  boys  with  a  positive  power  to  work  in  wood  and  metals  with  more  or 


176  THE  RESULTS    OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [chap.  VI. 

less  precision,  which  will  be  a  valuable  aid  to  many  a  lad  who  is  destined 
afterwards  to  be  thrown  on  his  own  resources  in  our  large  towns  and  cities, 
or  in  some  of  our  far-off  colonies." 

Mr.  John  F.  Moss  was  associated  with  Prof.  Ripper  in  charge 
of  the  Sheffield  school.  Speaking  at  the  London  Conference  in 
1884,  of  the  effect  of  combined  manual  and  mental  training, 
he  said :  — 

"  Those  who  are  thus  trained  will  start  in  the  world  with  a  very  distinct 
advantage,  with  grander  conceptions  of  the  dignity  of  labor,  fuller  apprecia- 
tion of  the  duties  of  citizenship,  and  brighter  prospects  of  useful  careers 
than  could  possibly  be  theirs  without  such  aid." 

Mr.  E.  M.  Dixon,  the  principal  of  Allan  Glen's  Institution, 
which  is  really  a  manual  training  school  at  Glasgow,  Scotland,1 
says,  after  an  experience  of  several  years :  — 

"Our  experience  seems  to  have  proved  that  lads  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  can 
acquire  in  two  years,  during  which  they  spend  not  more  than  one-half  day 
weekly  in  the  workshop,  at  least  as  much  manual  skill  as  is  usually  acquired 
by  lads  in  the  first  two  years  of  an  ordinary  apprenticeship." 

Again  he  says  :  — 

"  Our  experience  being,  that  a  systematic  course  of  instruction  in  drawing, 
combined  with  suitable  workshop  exercises,  is,  in  almost  every  case,  capable  of 
turning  out  a  lad  at  sixteen  years  of  age  able  to  interpret  and  execute  tech- 
nical drawings  of  even  considerable  complication,  it  is  desirable  that  practi- 
cal men  should  know  the  fact  as  widely  as  possible,  and  also  the  means 
whereby  it  may  be  realized.  ...  I  believe,  that,  in  the  case  of  many  pupils 
in  whom  the  faculty  of  abstract  thought  is  but  moderately  developed,  and 
by  whom  the  theoretical  subjects  of  instruction  are  consequently  apt  to  be 
somewhat  feebly  grasped,  the  experiences  of  the  workshop  are,  or  may  be, 
all-important  in  the  way  of  throwing  light  upon  results  that  the  pupil  fails 
to  trace  as  deductions  from  more  remote  principles,  but  which  he  can,  of 
course,  accept  as  facts  of  direct  experience.  I  am  not  sure,  that,  even  to  the 
most  subtile-minded,  the  manifold  experience  that  a  moderate  amount  of 
systematic  workshop  practice  supplies  may  not  have  a  very  beneficial  effect 
in  the  way  of  securing  perfect  confidence  in  much  of  the  theoretical  instruc- 
tion received  in  the  lecture  room."  —  Report  of  International  Conference  on 
Education  at  London,  1884,  vol.  ii. 

In  this  last  paragraph,  Mr.  Dixon  covers  the  whole  ground. 


1  I  visited  this  school  in  April,  1885,  and  was  delighted  to  find  both  teachers 
and  pupils  enthusiastically  engaged  on  an  admirable  program. 


Chap.  VI,]      LET   THE    TURTLE  DIVE,    THE  HARE  RUN.  177 

Prof.  R.  H.  Thurston,  director  of  Sibley  College,  Cornell 
University,  says :  — 

"  It  is  marvelous  to  see  how  rapidly  boys  acquire  the  power  of  skillfully 
using  tools.  ...  I  believe  that  nineteen  boys  out  of  twenty  do  possess 
more  or  less  of  the  mechanic's  tastes  and  powers ;  and  that  the  other  one  out 
of  the  twenty  will  be  so  benefited,  and  his  usefulness  to  himself  and  the 
world  so  increased,  by  shop  instruction,  that  he  will  do  well  to  secure  it. 
But  in  the  work  of  life  a  man  must  do  that  for  which  he  is  best  fitted,  and 
he  can  not  hope  to  succeed  in  competition  with  the  world  if  he  attempts  to 
make  a  livelihood  and  to  carry  on  a  business  for  which  he  is  not  fitted. 
The  turtle  may  be  an  admirable  diver,  but  he  can  not  hope  to  succeed  in  the 
race  with  the  hare  —  if  the  hare  attends  to  his  business." 

In  the  last  chapter,  I  quoted  from  a  letter  of  Mr.  Ralph  H. 
Miller,  the  superintendent  of  the  Scott  Manual  Training  School, 
which  forms  the  complement  of  the  Toledo  high  school.  He 
was  No.  3  on  my  list.  Since  he  wrote,  the  school-year  has 
closed,  and  in  the  Toledo  Blade  I  find  some  comments  which 
are  appropriate  to  this  discussion.  Speaking  of  the  graduating 
students,  the  Blade  says :  — 

"  One  remarkable  fact  is  that  so  many  who  won  honors  were  students  in 
the  Manual  Training  School.  It  demonstrates  that  the  manual  training 
department  of  the  Toledo  high  school  is  all  that  is  claimed  for  it.  Another 
fact  which  proves  the  efficacy  of  the  manual  training  is  that  so  many  boys 
remained  in  the  class.  More  boys  graduated  this  year  than  ever  before  in 
the  history  of  the  school." 

The  roll  shows  eighteen  boys  and  twenty  girls.  Among  the 
"  honor  "  pupils  are  mentioned  two  young  ladies  whose  choice 
of  occupation  is  somewhat  unusual,  and  plainly  the  consequence 
of  their  manual  training. 

"Miss  Jessie  Platt  has  been  a  pupil  in  the  Manual  Training  School  for 
three  years,  and  averaged  the  highest  in  her  class  for  the  high  school  course 
for  three  years,  and  has  not  been  absent  or  tardy  for  five  years.  She  will 
devote  her  attention  in  the  future  to  architecture. 

"  Miss  Minnie  Hales  has  taken  the  manual  training  course  for  three  years, 
and  will  hereafter  devote  her  attention  to  architectural  drawing.  She  will 
take  a  post-graduate  course  in  the  manual  training  school  next  year.  .  .  . 

"  The  interest  taken  by  parents  in  the  work  of  their  children  is  best  shown 
in  the  attendance  this  afternoon.  The  inspection  is  one  series  of  surprises. 


178  THE  RESULTS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [chap.  VI. 

The  advancement  made  by  the  pupils,  as  they  work  from  one  grade  to 
another,  is  so  well  shown,  and  so  easily  seen,  that  fathers  and  mothers  can 
scarcely  believe  it." 

To  the  question :  does  not  the  intellectual  work  suffer  if  time 
is  taken  for  industrial  work  in  school,  Miss  May  Mackintosh,  a 
teacher  experienced  in  manual  work,  replies :  — 

"The  answer  is  emphatically  No!  Children,  especially  young  children, 
can  not  force  their  attention  to  keep  to  one  subject  for  long  together, — 
the  actual  time  varying  with  the  children  and  the  personal  influence  of  the 
teacher,  —  and  it  is  hurtful  to  them,  physically,  mentally,  and  morally,  to  be 
obliged  to  take  part  in  any  lesson  after  this  period  of  fatigue  is  reached,  — 
intellectually,  because  they  form  the  habit  of  inattention  and  self-defence ; 
morally,  because  they  are  obliged  to  pretend  attention;  and  physically, 
in  their  poor  little  restless  bodies,  that  need  so  much  movement  for  their 
healthy  development.  Then  what  a  blessed  relief  is  some  piece  of  work 
for  the  hands,  and  how  fresh  the  interest  and  attention  for  the  following 
studies.  It  is  the  most  economic  arrangement,  even  if  the  claims  of  intel- 
lectual education  are  considered  as  paramount."  —  Education. 

Prof.  Felix  Adler,  who  has  now  had  eight  years  of  experi- 
ence in  the  conduct  of  a  manual  training  school  for  the  grades 
from  the  kindergarten  to  the  high  school,  says  in  a  recent 
report :  — 

"  How  does  it  come  to  pass  that  those  two  organs,  the  eye  and  the  hand, 
which  are  the  preferred  messengers  for  carrying  out  the  intentions  of  mind, 
should  receive  so  little  discipline  ?  .  .  .  Who  will  deny  that  the  future  phy- 
sician, the  experimenter  in  every  department  of  science,  and  indeed  every 
one  to  whom  a  deft  hand  and  keen  powers  of  observation  are  important, 
will  find  such  a  preparatory  discipline  in  early  youth  an  inestimable  advan- 
tage ?  .  .  .  While  the  pupil  is  shaping  the  typical  objects  which  the  in- 
structor proposes  to  him  as  a  task,  while  he  pores  silently,  persistently, 
and  lovingly  over  these  objects,  reaching  success  by  dint  of  gradual  approxi- 
mation, he  is  at  the  same  time  shaping  his  own  character,  and  a  tendency 
of  mind  is  created  from  which  will  eventually  result  the  loftiest  and  purest 
morality." 

But  perhaps  the  most  striking  testimony  comes  from  Eng- 
land. The  report  of  the  Royal  Commissioners,  already  referred 
to,  had  called  attention  to  the  conditions  of  technical  success 
in  America  and  elsewhere,  and  the  character  of  our  manual 
training  was  fully  given  by  Mr.  William  Mather,  who  repre- 


Chap,  VI.]      ME.    MATHER'S   MOTION  IN   PARLIAMENT.  179 

sented  the  Commission  in  the  examination  of  American  schools. 
It  was  my  privilege  to  contribute  a  paper  on  "  Manual  Train- 
ing Schools  "  to  the  International  Conference  on  Education  at 
London  in  1884,  and  by  special  invitation  to  read  an  address 
on  "  Manual  Training  in  General  Education  "  at  a  conference 
at  Manchester  in  April,  1885.  As  a  result  of  three  public 
discussions  of  the  subject,  during  which  the  details  of  the 
St.  Louis  school  were  fully  given,  the  Board  of  Managers  of 
the  Manchester  Technical  School  converted  it  both  in  name 
and  in  fact  into  a  manual  training  school.  In  all  discussions 
touching  this  subject,  William  Mather,  Esq.,  was  prominent ; 
and  having  entered  Parliament  the  following  year,  as  the 
member  from  Salford,  he  voiced  the  public  interest  in  the  new 
education  by  giving  formal  public  notice  of  the  following 
motion :  — 

"  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  House,  in  view  of  the  increasing  competi- 
tion of  foreign  nations  with  our  manufactories  both  at  home  and  abroad,  it 
is  necessary  to  extend  our  national  system  of  education  in  order  to  bring 
the  teaching  of  the  natural  sciences,  manual  training,  and  technical  instruc- 
tion within  the  reach  of  the  working  classes  of  this  country." 

The  vice-president  of  the  Council  of  Education,  the  Right 
Honorable  Sir  Lyon  Playfair,  in  bringing  his  estimates  before 
the  House  for  the  annual  grant  for  public  education,  said  that 
Mr.  Mather's  motion  had  his  cordial  approval,  and  he  looked 
forward  to  the  time  when  this  comprehensive  proposal  would 
receive  the  sanction  of  Parliament. 

A  day  was  set  when  Mr.  Mather  should  fully  discuss  his 
motion  before  the  House ;  but,  unfortunately,  before  that  day 
arrived,  the  Liberal  Government  was  overthrown  and  Parlia- 
ment was  dissolved. 

But  interest  in  the  subject  is  on  the  increase,  and  beyond 
question  great  progress  will  soon  be  made.  I  learn  from  Mr. 
Mather,  that  one  form  taken  by  the  Jubilee  celebrations  consists 
in  promoting  the  establishment  of  manual  training  schools.  I 
look  with  confidence  to  an  early  modification  of  the  "  Code  " 
which  shall  recognize  systematic  manual  training  as  legitimate 
educational  work. 


180  THE  RESULTS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [Chap.  VI. 

The  English  movement,  as  well  as  the  American  movement, 
as  has  been  truly  said  by  my  enthusiastic  and  versatile  friend, 
Rev.  E.  P.  Powell  of  Utica,  N.Y.,  is  not  so  much  an  evolution, 
as  a  revolution,  in  public  education. 

And  now  comes  the  announcement  at  the  last  moment  (June 
1,  1887)  that  the  London  School  Board,  on  motion  of  the  Rev. 
Charles  Lawrence,  has  resolved  by  thirty-one  votes  to  six,  "  that 
in  the  -opinion  of  this  -Board  it  is  necessary  to  introduce  into 
schools  some  regular  system  of  manual  training." 


Chap.VIL]        EXCLUSIVE   STUDY  OF  THE  CLASSICS.  181 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    COMPLEMENTARY    NATURE    OF    MANUAL 
TRAINING.1 

"TTTITH  his  gentle  lance  Emerson  pricked  many  a  bubble  ; 
V  V  and,  though  collapse  did  not  always  follow  immediately, 
the  wound  was  always  fatal.  In  1844,  in  his  essay  on  New 
England  reformers,  he  charged  popular  education  with  a  want  of 
truth  and  nature.  He  complained  that  an  education  to  things 
was  not  given .  Said  he,  "  We  are  students  of  words ;  we  are 
shut  up  in  schools  and  colleges  and  recitation  rooms  for  ten  or 
fifteen  years,  and  come  out  at  last  with  a  bag  of  wind,  a  memory 
of  words,  and  do  not  know  a  thing.  We  can  not  use  our  hands 
or  our  legs  or  our  eyes  or  our  arms."  And  again,  speaking  of 
the  exclusive  devotion  of  the  schools  to  Latin,  Greek,  and 
mathematics,  "which,  by  a  wonderful  drowsiness  of  usage,"  had 
been  "stereotyped  education,  as  the  manner  of  men  is,"  he  says, 
"  In  a  hundred  high  schools  and  colleges  this  warfare  against 
common-sense  still  goes  on.  ...  Is  it  not  absurb  that  the  whole 
liberal  talent  of  this  country  should  be  directed  in  its  best 
years  on  studies  that  lead  to  nothing  ?  "  2 

1  An  address  delivered  at  Saratoga,  N.Y.,  on  Thursday,  July  13,  1882,  before  a 
joint  meeting  of  the  National  Teachers'  Association,  and  the  American  Institute 
of  Instruction. 

2  "  The  College  [Harvard]  fitted  us  for  this  active,  bustling,  hard-hitting,  rnany- 
tongued  world,  caring  nothing  for  authority  and  little  for  the  past,  but  full  of  its 
living  thought  and  living  issues,  in  dealing  with  which  there  was  no  man  who 
did  not  stand  in  pressing  and  constant  need  of  every  possible  preparation  as 
respects  knowledge  and  exactitude  and  thoroughness,— the  poor  old  college  pre- 
pared us  to  play  our  parts  in  this  world  by  compelling  us,  directly  and  indirectly, 
to  devote  the  best  part  of  our  school  lives  to  acquiring  a  confessedly  superficial 
knowledge  of  two  dead  languages  !  "  —  CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS,  JR.,  A.  College 
Fetich,  1883. 

Similarly  Mr.  George  S.  Merriain,  a  graduate  of  Yale,  speaks  of  the  time  spent 


182  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap,  VH 

This  is,  perhaps,  too  severe,  but  we  must  admit  that  Emerson 
anticipated  and  greatly  aided  a  reform  which  has  been  gather- 
ing strength  for  a  whole  generation.  Hence  it  is  to-day  scarcely 
necessary  that  I  should  present  arguments  in  favor  of  manual 
education.  The  great  tidal- wave  of  conviction  is  sweeping  over 
our  whole  land,  and  the  attitude  and  aspect  of  men  are  greatly 
changed  from  what  they  were  ten  years  ago.  What  I  said  in 
1873  in  a  public  address  in  favor  of  technical  education  was 
held  to  be  rank  heresy.  I  fear  it  would  be  regarded  as  rather 
commonplace  to-day.  The  progressive  spirit  of  the  age  has 
actually  penetrated  our  thick  hides,  and  we  are  trying  to  keep 
step  with  the  universe. 

To  be  sure,  we  still  call  ourselves  reformers,  and  we  shall 
continue  to  battle  for  the  new  and  true  till  our  banners  are  the 
only  ones  flying.  But  the  day  of  surrender  is  near  at  hand. 
One  by  one  the  outposts  have  fallen  into  our  hands,  and  only 
a  few  citadels  remain.  An  armistice  has  been  asked  for ;  and, 
if  we  can  only  arrange  satisfactorily  the  terms  of  an  honorable 
capitulation,  the  enemy  is  willing  to  march  out  and  join  our 
ranks. 

In  every  community  the  demands  of  technical  education  have 
been  discussed,  and  in  every  instance  when  the  old  system  has 
been  subjected  to  the  tests  which  good  sense  applies  to  business, 
it"  has  been  found  wanting. 

And  yet  let  me  not  pass  with  only  words  of  criticism.  Let 
us  recognize  the  inestimable  value  of  American  public  educa- 


in  the  study  of  words:  "  Up  to  the  day  when  I  took  my  diploma,  there  had  been,  I 
may  say,  nothing  in  my  education  that  required  me  to  use  my  eyes,  or  any  of  my 
senses  or  perceptions,  for  any  purpose  save  to  read  the  printed  page.  I  had  been 
taught  no  knowledge,  and  no  means  of  acquiring  knowledge,  except  from  books.  Of 
knowledge  at  first  hand,  I  had  learned  absolutely  nothing.  .  .  .  The  whole  habit 
of  personal  observation  of  the  phenomena  and  processes  of  the  material  world 
was  left  out  of  our  education  entirely.  That  omission  for  myself  I  unspeakably 
lament.  History  and  literature  I  can  to  some  extent  pick  up  as  I  go  along;  but  I 
shall  never  get  that  intelligent,  sympathetic,  working  knowledge  of  my  physical 
environment  for  which  the  aptitude  and  instinct  might  have  been  easily  gained 
when  I  was  fourteen  or  sixteen.  ...  I  was  given,  indeed,  some  of  the  keys  to  the 
liches  of  literature,  but  of  things  I  never  learned  the  alphabet.  I  acquired  no  use 
of  my  perceptions  save  with  my  eyes  to  read  the  printed  page,  and  with  my  ears 
to  hear  my  instructor's  voice."  —  Address  to  Yale  Alumni  in  1883,  as  quoted  by  Mr, 
Adams. 


Chap,  VIL]  MISDIRECTED    TRAINING.  183 

tion.  With  all  its  faults,  it  is  our  best  inheritance.  Let  us  be 
just,  yea  generous  if  need  be,  to  the  bridge  that  has  brought  us 
over.  Let  us  say,  "  God  speed  your  work  !  "  to  those  who  are 
battling  for  education  in  States  black  with  illiteracy,  and  let  us 
commend  the  splendid  work  done  by  earnest  men  and  women 
on  all  sides.  But  the  faults  —  we  must  not  be  blind  to  them. 
If  the  old  education  has  been  good,  we  can  make  the  new 
better. 

DEFECTIVE   EDUCATION. 

Is,  then,  I  ask  —  is  the  education  we  give  as  broad  and  round 
and  full  as  it  ought  to  be  ?  Is  the  time  of  tutelage  most  wisely 
spent?  Do  the  results  we  secure  justify  the  means  and  methods 
we  use?  Is  the  relation  between  education  and  morality  as 
close  as  it  should  be?  I  think  to  these  questions  we  must 
seriously  answer,  No !  There  is  a  lack  of  harmony  between 
the  schoolhouse  and  the  busy  world  that  surrounds  it.  Some 
have  even  claimed  that  we  are  wrong  in  supposing  that  educa- 
tion always  diminishes  crime.  Let  us  see  if  there  is  any  truth 
in  their  position. 

You  know  how  often  a  life  is  a  failure  from  defective  educa- 
tion. Too  often  do  we  see  young  people,  who  might  have  been 
educated  to  eminent  usefulness,  cast  — 

"  unfinished 
Into  this  breathing  world,  scarce  half  made  up." 

I  have  seen  poor  lawyers,  who,  under  a  proper  system  of 
training,  would  have  made  excellent  mechanics,  and  not  a  few 
of  highly  educated,  able-bodied  men,  actually  begging  for  the 
price  of  a  day's  board.  I  recall  one  man  in  particular  who  was 
able  to  speak  several  languages,  but  because  no  one  would 
employ  him  as  a  linguist  he  must  needs  beg,  for  he  knew  not 
how  to  work.  Now,  when  a  man's  education  has  been  misdi- 
rected, and  he  is  thrown  upon  the  world,  shackled  by  out-grown 
theories,  bewildered  by  false  lights,  and  altogether  unprepared 
for  the  work  which  perhaps  he  was  born  to  do,  and  when  in  his 
extremity  he  resorts  to  knavery  and  violence  and  fraud  to  secure 
what  he  knows  not  how  to  get  by  fair  means,  those  who  directed 
or  should  have  directed  his  education  can  not  be  held  blameless. 


184  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap,  VII, 

The  moral  influence  of  occupation  is  very  great.  A  sphere 
of  labor  congenial  and  absorbing,  that  fully  occupies  one's 
thoughts  and  energies,  is  a  strong  safeguard  of  morality.  If 
you  would  keep  men  out  of  mischief,  keep  them  busy  with 
agreeable  work  or  harmless  play.  The  balance  of  employ- 
ments is  fixed  by  our  state  of  society  and  the  grade  of  our 
civilization.  Now,  if  indiscriminately  we  educate  all  our  youth 
away  from  certain  occupations  and  into  certain  others,  as  is 
very  clearly  the  case,  some  employments  will  be  crowded  and 
consequently  degraded :  in  others,  the  choicest  positions  will  be 
filled  by  foreigners;  and  the  lowest  posts,  wherein  labor  is 
without  dignity,  must  perforce  be  filled  by  those  who  have 
neither  taste  nor  fitness  for  their  work.  The  result  is  broils, 
plots,  and  social  disorder. 

Thirty  years  ago  an  eloquent  Frenchman  (Frederic  Bastiat) 
charged  the  one-sided  education  of  his  countrymen  with  being 
an  actual  danger  to  society.  He  argued  that  the  "  stranded 
graduates,"  as  he  called  those  who,  unable  to  navigate  the 
rough  waters  of  practical  life,  had  been  tossed  high  and  dry 
on  the  reefs  along  the  shore,  "  filled  with  a  sense  that  the 
country  which  had  encouraged  them  to  devote  their  best  years 
to  classic  studies  owed  them  a  living,  or  a  means  of  living, 
would  become  the  leaders  of  mobs,  and  officers  at  the  barri- 
cades." 

MORE   LIGHT. 

When  the  shadow  of  death  was  drawn  over  the  great  Goethe, 
he  uttered  his  last  wish  for  "  more  light."  We  must  echo  his 
cry,  if  we  would  prepare  our  American  system  of  education 
for  a  more  glorious  destiny.  We  treat  our  children  too  much 
as  the  unskilled  gardener  treats  his  plants.  He  puts  them  by 
a  window  and  pours  over  them  a  flood  of  light  and  life-giving 
rays.  Instinctively  they  turn  out  towards  the  source  of  their 
strength.  They  put  forth  their  leaves  and  budding  promises ; 
and,  as  we  look  at  them  from  the  outside,  we  mark  their  flour- 
ishing aspect,  and  rejoice.  But,  if  we  look  at  the  other  side, 
we  shall  find  them  neglected,  deficient,  and  deformed.  What 
they  want  is  more  light  —  light  on  the  other  side.  Were  the 


Chap,  VII.]  A    PRACTICAL    ILLUSTRATION.  185 

sun  always  in  the  east,  our  trees  would  all  grow  like  those  on 
the  edge  of  the  forest,  one-sided. 

So  in  education,  we  must  open  new  windows,  or  rather  we 
must  level  with  the  ground  all  artificial  barriers,  and  let  every 
luminous  characteristic  of  modern  life  shine  in  upon  our  school- 
rooms. We  must  pay  less  heed  to  what  the  world  was  two  or 
three  hundred  years  ago,  and  regard  with  greater  respect  what 
the  world  is  to-day.  Before  we  devote  ourselves  exclusively 
to  the  arts  of  expression,  we  must  cultivate  all  the  faculties 
and  encourage  the  growth  of  thoughts  worthy  of  expression. 

THE  AETS   OF   EXPRESSION. 

Dr.  Youmans  recently  said  (Popular  Science  Monthly,  May, 

1882) :  - 

"  The  human  mind  is  no  longer  to  be  cultivated  merely  by  the  forms  or 
arts  of  expression.  The  husks  and  shells  of  expression  have  had  sufficient 
attention  ;  we  have  now  to  deal  with  the  living  kernel  of  truth.  .  .  .  Under 
the  old  ideal  of  culture,  a  man  may  still  be  grossly  ignorant  of  the  things 
most  interesting  and  now  most  important  to  know.  .  .  .  Modern  knowledge 
is  the  highest  and  most  perfected  form  of  knowledge,  and  it  is  no  longer 
possible  to  maintain  that  it  is  not  also  the  best  knowledge  for  that  cultiva- 
tion of  mind  and  character  which  is  the  proper  (i.e.,  the  highest)  object  of 
education." 

I  desire,  for  a  moment,  to  direct  your  attention  to  the  arts 
of  expression.  Next  in  rank  to  the  ability  to  think  deeply  and 
clearly  is  the  power  of  giving  clear  and  full  expression  to  our 
thoughts.  This  last  can  be  done  in  various  ways.  As  this 
brings  me  squarely  upon  a  subject  I  wish  to  impress  strongly 
upon  you,  I  will  illustrate  it  by  a  somewhat  elaborate  example. 

A  gentleman  recently  called  upon  me  for  iny  opinion  con- 
cerning a  certain  automatic  brake  for  freight-cars.  The  device 
was  new  to  me,  but  it  lay  pretty  clearly  denned  in  the  mind  of 
my  visitor.  It  was  not  original  with  him,  but  for  the  purposes 
of  my  illustration  it  might  have  been.  Before  I  could  pass 
judgment,  the  device  must  lie  as  clearly  in  my  mind  as  it 
did  in  his,  perhaps  more  clearly :  so  he  set  out  to  express  his 
thought.  He  was  what  we  call  well-educated,  being  a  gradu- 
ate of  the  oldest  university  in  the  land,  and  was  well  versed 


186  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap.  VII 

in  the  conventionalities  of  spoken  and  written  languages.  Ac- 
cordingly he  proceeded  to  utter  a  succession  of  sounds.  His 
lips  opened  and  shut  with  great  rapidity,  and  without  intermis- 
sion a  series  of  sounds  fell  upon  my  ears.  The  sounds  T  heard 
were  quite  familiar  to  me,  as  I  had  been  listening  to  them  in 
one  order  and  another  for  over  forty  years ;  and  as  they  had 
always  been  associated  in  my  mind  with  certain  concrete  things, 
and  the  relations  of  such  things  to  each  other,  certain  thoughts 
about  those  things  began  to  take  shape  in  my  mind. 

Of  course,  the  sounds  I  heard  had  not  the  smallest  likeness 
to  the  things  called  up  by  them  in  my  mind.  To  an  Italian 
peasant,  or  to  Archimedes  of  Syracuse,  they  would  have  been 
as  unintelligible  as  the  chattering  of  a  magpie.  They  were 
purely  arbitrary  or  conventional ;  yet  much  of  our  education 
had  been  devoted  to  their  mastery.  Nevertheless,  as  a  means 
for  expressing  thought,  they  were  in  the  present  case  quite 
inadequate.  The  ideas  aroused  in  my  mind  were  confused  and 
fragmentary,  and  altogether  unsatisfactory.  Had  my  friend 
resorted  to  writing  a  description  of  the  invention,  in  either 
English,  French,  German,  Latin,  or  Greek,  using  in  every  case 
a  set  of  purely  conventional  symbols  (to  represent  other  sets 
of  conventional  sounds)  which  we  had  both  spent  years  in 
getting  some  knowledge  of,  he  would  have  succeeded  little 
better.  Whether  speaking  or  writing,  much  of  his  thought  he 
could  not  clothe  in  words.  He  therefore  abandoned  the  wholly 
conventional,  or  verbal,  art  of  expression,  and  turned  to  the 
pictorial. 

But  here  he  soon  confessed  that  his  education  was  deficient. 
He  had  never  studied  the  art  of  representing  objects  having 
three  dimensions  on  a  surface  having  but  two,  and  hence  he 
was  ignorant  of  the  methods  he  ought  to  adopt  to  express  by 
drawings  the  objects  he  was  thinking  of.  However,  I  caught 
more  of  his  meaning  from  some  crude  attempts  at  sketching 
than  I  did  from  all  his  talk.  A  few  lines  were  luminous,  yet 
they  left  far  too  much  for  me  to  supply  by  my  imagination  ; 
hence  my  visitor  withdrew,  and  sent  me  a  full  set  of  what  we 
called  "  working  drawings,"  made  by  the  inventor,  who  was  a 
draughtsman. 


Chap,  VH]  THREE  METHODS   OF  EXPRESSION.  187 

These  drawings,  tho  a  sort  of  ocular  resemblance  to  the 
things  signified,  were  still  half  conventional,  and  required  on 
my  part  a  certain  amount  of  training  to  enable  me  fully  to 
understand  them.  This,  fortunately,  I  had  received ;  and, 
through  the  art  of  expression  embodied  in  them,  I  gained  a 
tolerably  clear  idea  of  the  thought  of  the  inventor.  With 
scarce  a  written  or  spoken  word,  they  expressed  that  thought 
far  more  clearly  and  fully  than  any  merely  verbal  description 
could  do ;  they  showed  the  relations  of  parts  which  were 
beyond  the  reach  of  words. 

But  my  friend  was  not  content  to  stop  there.  The  drawings 
had  been  but  partially  intelligible  to  him,  with  their  "plans, 
elevations,  and  sections ;  "  and,  judging  me  by  himself,  he  be- 
lieved that  a  third  art  of  expression  would  out-value  both  the 
others.  He  therefore  invited  me  to  call  at  a  shop  and  examine 
a  specimen  of  the  device  itself,  produced  by  a  skilled  mechanic. 
The  real  article,  which  is  the  mechanic's  art  of  expression, 
proved  to  be  an  improvement  even  upon  the  thought  of  the 
inventor.  The  latter  had  not  been  a  mechanic,  and  he  had 
made  the  sort  of  mistakes  that  draughtsmen  who  are  not  fair 
mechanics  always  make.  Certain  parts  of  the  design  it  had 
been  practically  impossible  to  construct,  as  they  involved  shapes 
that  could  not  be  molded  by  ordinary  means.  A  nut  had 
been  placed  where  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  turn  it ;  and 
certain  parts  which  were  to  be  of  cast-iron  had  been  given  such 
dimensions  that  the  castings  would  have  snapped  in  pieces 
while  cooling.  These  errors  had  been  corrected  by  the  me- 
chanic, and  the  perfected  thought  lay  fully  expressed  before 
me. 

In  this  illustration  we  have  three  greatly  different  methods 
of  expressing  essentially  the  same  thought.  Each  constitutes 
a  distinct  language,  and  each  is  absolutely  essential  to  modern 
civilization. 

You  will  note  how  a  crude  thought  often  takes  practical 
shape  in  the  hands  of  the  draughtsman  and  the  mechanic. 
"  Drawing,"  says  Prof.  Sylvanus  P.  Thompson,  "  is  the  very 
soul  of  true  technical  education,  and  of  exact  and  intelligent 
workmanship."  Those  who  have  tested  this  can  tell  how  many 


188  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [ Chap,  VII. 

marvels  of  ingenuity,  as  lovely  as  a  chateau  en  Espagne,  have 
vanished  in  the  presence  of  "  plans  and  elevations  ;  "  and  how 
many  beautifully  drawn  designs  have  been  mercilessly  con- 
demned as  impracticable  by  judges  versed  in  the  laws  of 
construction  and  the  strength  of  materials. 

Much  more  could  be  said  upon  the  arts  of  expression,  their 
relative  importance  and  proper  cultivation.  You  will  readily 
think,  as  did  Lessing'in  his  Laocoon,  of  poetry,  painting,  and 
sculpture.  You  will  recall  how  lofty  thoughts  have  in  all  ages 
found  expression  in  architectural  forms ;  and  yet  throughout  all 
the  history  of  architecture  the  laws  of  mechanics  as  then  under- 
stood, and  the  properties  of  the  materials  used,  have  determined 
the  different  styles.  In  our  own  age  we  are  trying  to  express 
ourselves  in  iron  and  steel,  and  to  cast  off  the  fetters  of  an 
age  of  marble  and  granite. 

In  a  recent  address  Mr.  Charles  H.  Ham  of  Chicago  said, 
that,  by  putting  thought  into  seventy-five  cents'  worth  of  ore, 
it  is  converted  into  pallet-arbors  worth  twenty-five  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  He  continues :  "  Skilled  labor  is  embodied 
thought — thought  that  houses,  feeds,  and  clothes  mankind. 
The  nation  that  applies  to  labor  the  most  thought,  the  most 
intelligence  (i.e.,  that  best  expresses  its  thought  in  concrete 
form),  will  rise  highest  in  the  scale  of  civilization,  will  gain 
most  in  wealth,  will  most  surely  survive  the  shocks  of  time, 
will  live  longest  in  history." 

But  some  one  will  say,  as  to  methods  of  expression,  "  One 
art  is  enough  for  me ;  make  me  master  of  one,  and  I  will  care 
for  no  second."  I  answer,  you  are  thinking  of  an  impossibility. 
If  a  mechanic  is  only  a  mechanic,  he  is  never  a  master,  even  of 
his  own  art.  He  is  crippled  at  every  turn ;  he  is  limited  in 
expressing  himself  to  what  he  can  make.  He  is  without  that 
powerful  ally,  drawing,  the  short-hand  of  the  imagination ;  and 
in  the  presence  of  thoughts  that  baffle  concrete  expression  he  is 
dumb.  Valuable  machines  even  are  sometimes  purely  imaginary. 
Clerk  Maxwell,  in  his  "Theory  of  Heat,"  says,  "For  the  pur- 
poses of  scientific  illustration  we  shall  describe  the  working  of 
an  engine  of  a  species  entirely  imaginary,  —  one  which  it  is 
impossible  to  construct,  but  very  easy  to  understand,"  referring 


Chap,  VII.]  THE  HIGHEST  EDUCATION.  189 

to  Carnot's  engine.  In  like  manner,  if  one  would  command 
confidence  as  a  draughtsman,  he  must  be  a  mechanic  as  well. 
And  finally,  if  I  am  a  student  of  words  alone,  and  if  I  go  not 
beyond  my  dictionaries,  I  shall  never  guess  their  meaning.  A 
large  proportion  of  our  emphatic  words  are  technical ;  they 
belonged  originally  to  some  craft,  and  none  but  a  craftsman 
knows  their  exact  meaning.  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  once 
said  that  the  highest  education  was  that  which  gave  one  the 
fullest  and  most  accurate  use  of  his  mother  tongue.  I  would 
modify  the  statement,  and  claim  that  the  highest  and  most 
liberal  education  is  that,  which,  beside  cultivating  most  fully 
the  powers  of  thought,  gives  one  full  command  of  all  the  arts 
of  expression. 

I  need  not  remark  that  many,  perhaps  most,  thoughts  do  not 
admit  of  concrete,  nor  even  of  pictorial,  expression,  —  as,  for 
example,  all  abstractions ;  hence,  they  suffer  seriously  from  want 
of  clearness.  If  you  have  a  clear  thought  on  abstract  matters, 
you  can  never  be  sure  you  have  expressed  it  clearly. 

The  thought  must  precede  its  expression  by  any  method,  and 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  thinking  mind  the  concrete  should  pre- 
cede the  abstract.  Give  children  clear  and  accurate  thoughts 
of  real  things,  of  the  material  world  we  live  in,  of  real  plants 
and  animals,  of  the  laws  of  materials,  of  qualities  and  then  of 
quantities,  before  you  venture  on  the  field  of  abstractions. 
Before  you  cultivate  the  high  arts,  make  sure  of  the  low  ones : 
without  them  as  a  foundation,  no  superstructure  of  fine  art 
can  safely  be  built.  As  Emerson  says  (in  Man,  the  Reformer), 
"  We  must  have  a  basis  for  our  higher  accomplishments,  our 
delicate  entertainments  of  poetry  and  philosophy,  in  the  work 
of  our  hands.  We  must  have  an  antagonism  in  the  tough 
world  for  all  the  variety  of  our  spiritual  faculties,  or  they  will 
not  be  born." 

A  habit  of  clear  thinking  once  formed  will  never  leave  us, 
however  abstract  our  investigations  become ;  while  a  habit  of 
stopping  short  with  ill-defined  results,  of  resting  content  with 
obscure  and  half-grown  mental  images,  of  accepting  a  mental 
attitude  of  fogginess,  has  a  stultifying  effect  which  seriously 
dwarfs  the  mind.  This  is  a  most  important  subject,  but  I  have 


190  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap.  VII. 

place  for  but  a  few  words  of  exhortation.  Give  children  clear 
thoughts,  and  begin  with  the  concrete.  When  the  mind  is  too 
weary  or  too  sick  to  clear  up  obscurities,  it  is  time  to  seek  rest 
and  recreation  and  fresh  air.  Beware  of  straining  the  powers 
of  attention  by  too  much  schooling ;  beware  of  overtaxing  the 
mind  by  too  many  and  too  difficult  subjects  ;  and  especially 
beware  of  poisoning  the  blood  and  debilitating  the  brain  by  bad 
air.  The  fruit  of  any  and  all  these  evils  is  mental  as  well  as 
physical  decrepitude. 

THE   AIMS    OF    EDUCATION. 

But  to  return.  I  claim  for  these  forms  of  expression,  which 
I  have  taken  pains  to  distinguish,  more  nearly  equal  care  and 
consideration  in  the  elementary  education  of  every  child.  Teach 
language  and  literature  and  mathematics  with  a  view  to  make 
each  child  a  master  of  the  art  of  verbal  expression.  Teach 
mechanical  and  free  drawings  with  the  conventions  of  shade 
and  color,  and  aim  at  a  mastery  of  the  art  of  pictorial  expres- 
sion. And,  lastly,  teach  the  cunning  fingers  the  wonderful 
power  and  use  of  tools,  and  aim  at  nothing  less  than  a  mastery 
of  the  fundamental  mechanical  processes.  To  do  all  these 
things  while  the  mind  is  gaining  strength  and  clearness  and 
material  for  thought,  is  the  function  of  a  manual  training 
school. 

PREJUDICES   TO   BE   OVERCOME. 

The  traditions  are  heavily  against  us,  but  the  traditions  of 
the  fathers  must  yield  to  the  new  dispensation.  As  was  to 
have  been  expected,  the  strongest  prejudices  against  this  reform 
exist  in  old  educational  centers. 

As  Prest.  Walker  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Education 
frankly  admitted  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  Prof. 
Felix  Adler's  splendid  institution,  "  The  Workingman's  School 
and  Free  Kindergarten,"  the  methods  and  aims  proposed  by 
the  advocates  of  manual  training  schools  are  a  criticism  upon  the 
methods  and  aims  of  the  established  s}^stem,  and  nothing  is 
more  natural  than  for  it  to  resent  the  criticism  and  discourage 
reform. 


Chap,  VII.]  POLITE  LEARNING.  191 

No  man  has  done  more — nay,  no  man  has  done  as  much  —  to 
introduce  the  manual  feature  into  American  education  as  Prof. 
John  D.  Runkle  of  Boston ;  and  yet  the  School  of  Mechanic  Arts 
established  by  him  in  connection  with  the  Massachusetts  Insti- 
tute of  Technology  has,  after  an  existence  of  several  years,  been 
apparently  almost  frozen  out  in  the  biting  atmosphere  of  that 
highly  aesthetic  city.1  I  doubt  if  one  could  find  on  American 
soil  a  more  unpromising  field  for  a  manual  training  school  than 
beneath  the  lofty  elms  of  Cambridge  and  New  Haven. 

LUXURIES    IN   EDUCATION. 

There  are  luxuries  in  education,  as  in  food  and  dress  and 
equipage ;  and  in  wealthy  communities  the  luxuries  command 
the  chief  attention.  At  the  English  universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  a  large  proportion  of  the  students  expect  to  be 
gentlemen  of  leisure.  The  idea  of  giving  heed  to  the  demands 
of  skilled  labor,  of  preparing  for  lives  of  activity  and  usefulness ; 
the  idea  of  earning  one's  daily  bread,  and  of  supporting  one's 
family,  —  scarcely  enters  their  heads.  Either  they  inherit 
livings,  or  they  seek  to  get  livings  through  the  Church,  or  they 
enter  the  army  with  commissions  purchased  by  kind  friends 
who  wish  to  get  them  out  of  the  way,  or  they  go  into  law  and 
politics.  It  is  on  wonder  that  such  men  devote  themselves 
largely  to  the  luxuries  of  education,  Sanscrit,  Latin  hexameters, 
Italian ;  in  a  word,  to  "  polite  "  learning.  In  such  an  atmo- 
sphere as  that,  how  incongruous  is  the  plea  of  mine  for  an  edu- 
cation to  things ;  for  a  training  of  the  hand  and  eye  as  well  as 
the  intellect  to  lives  of  useful  employment !  Yet  half  the  col- 
leges in  the  United  States  ape  the  English  universities,  and  half 
the  high  schools  ape  the  colleges. 

The  result  of  all  this  has  been  a  certain  false  sestheticism 
which  turns  away  from  the  materialism  of  our  new  notions. 
The  highly  cultivated  would  soar  away  into  purer  air  and  nobler 
spheres.  There  is  a  feeling,  more  or  less  clearly  expressed,  that 
the  material  world  is  gross  and  unrefined ;  that  soiled  hands 

1  This  was  said  five  years  ago.  I  am  most  happy  to  say  that  such  criticism  is 
no  longer  possible. 


192  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap.  VII, 

are  a  reproach ;  that  the  garb  of  a  mechanic  necessarily  clothes 
a  person  of  sordid  tastes  and  low  desires.  As  Dr.  Eliot  of 
St.  Louis  has  expressed  it :  "  It  is  thought  to  be  a  sad  descent 
for  a  university  whose  aim  should  be  the  highest  education  to 
stoop  to  the  recognition  of  hand-crafts  of  the  mechanic." 

MANUAL   EDUCATION. 

Perhaps  no  better  general  statement  of  the  new  creed  has 
been  made  than  that  of  Stephen  A.  Walker,  in  a  speech  already 
referred  to.  He  put  it  for  us  thus :  "  Education  of  the  hand 
and  the  eye  should  go  along  with,  part  passu,  the  education  of 
the  mind.  We  believe  in  making  good  workmen  as  well  as  in 
making  educated  intellects.  We  think  these  are  things  that 
can  be  done  at  the  same  time,  and  our  proposition  is  that 
they  can  be  done  better  together  than  separately." 

As  I  said  in  the  beginning,  this  proposition  is  meeting  with 
general  favor  among  the  people.  I  have  pointed  out  the 
sources  of  some  of  the  opposition ;  it  remains  for  me  to 
touch  upon  the  two  objections  which  I  surmise  are  about  the 
only  ones  in  the  minds  of  my  hearers.  You  ask  first,  "Is 
your  proposition  practicable?"  You  doubt  the  feasibility  of 
uniting  in  a  real  school  such  incongruous  elements  as  arith- 
metic and  carpentry,  history  and  blacksmithing.  You  fear 
either  that  the  shop-work  will  demoralize  the  school,  or  that 
the  shop-work  will  never  rise  above  the  dignity  of  a  mere 
pastime. 

Now,  I  claim  not  only  that  what  I  propose  can  be  done,  but 
that  it  has  been  done  in  St.  Louis,  and  perhaps  elsewhere  as 
well. 

ORGANIZATION   OF   A   MANUAL  TRAINING   SCHOOL. 

Prof.  Thompson,  in  his  valuable  essay  on  the  apprenticeship 
schools  of  France,  classifies  French  technical  schools  under  four 
heads : — 

1.  The  school  in  the  workshop  or  factory. 

2.  The  workshop  in  the  school. 

3.  The  school  and  the  shop  side  by  side. 

4.  The  half-time  schools. 


Chap,  TO]  THE  SHOP  A   PART  OF  THE  SCHOOL.  193 

In  the  first  class  the  school  is  subordinate  to  the  factory; 
the  boys  or  girls  learn  a  particular  trade,  and  every  thing  in  the 
school  as  well  as  in  the  shop  is  designed  to  meet  the  wants  of 
those  expecting  to  enter  the  particular  trade.  For  obvious 
reasons  there  can  be  no  general  adoption  of  such  a  combination 
in  this  country.  Prof.  Thompson  gives  his  verdict  in  favor  of 
the  school-  and  the  shop  side  by  side,  though  there  is  much  to 
recommend  the  second  plan. 

No  one  of  the  French  plans  exactly  suits  me.  I  prefer  to 
incorporate  manual  with  intellectual  education,  and  include 
both  under  the  name  school.  We  don't  have  what  you  call 
school  in  the  morning,  and  shop  in  the  afternoon ;  nor  do  we 
spend  the  forenoons  with  tools,  and  devote  a  few  evening  hours 
to  study  and  recitation :  our  school  program  combines  the  old 
and  the  new  in  just  proportion. 

There  is  no  confusion,  no  sense  of  incongruity.  The  boys 
go  as  soberly  to  shop  as  to  recitation ;  though  I  ought  to  add 
that  almost  without  exception  they  delight  in  the  use  of  tools, 
and  it  is  no  small  punishment  to  be  kept  from  the  shop  for 
some  neglected  lesson. 

The  Manual  Training  School  of  St.  Louis  differs  from  all 
other  technical  schools  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  It  much 
resembles  the  Boston  School  of  Mechanic  Arts;  though  it  differs 
from  it  in  admitting  boys  at  fourteen  instead  of  fifteen  years 
of  age,  in  having  a  three  years'  course  instead  of  two,  and  in 
having  a  full  and  independent  equipment  of  study  and  reci- 
tation rooms  as  well  as  shops.  I  gladly  avail  myself  of  this 
occasion  to  publicly  acknowledge  our  indebtedness  to  the  able 
reports  and  papers  published  by  ex-President  Runkle  on  the 
Russian  system  of  tool  instruction,  and  the  organization  and 
work  of  his  school. 

All  European  schools  of  the  same  grade  are  more  or  less 
devoted  to  particular  trades,  excepting  the  school  at  Komatau, 
Bohemia,  and  perhaps  other  similar  schools,  where  the  shop- 
work  is  three  times  as  much  per  day  as  with  us,  and  where 
book-learning  is  crowded  between  very  narrow  limits. 

In  like  manner,  all  other  technical  schools  in  this  country  are 
either  devoted  to  single  trades,  or  they  are  of  a  higher  grade. 


194  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap.  VII, 

To  those  who  do  not  care  for  the  details,  I  will  say  that  our 
course  of  study  runs  through  three  years  in  five  parallel  lines. 

First,  A  course  in  pure  mathematics. 

Second,  A  course  in  science  and  applied  mathematics. 

Third,  A  course  in  language  and  literature. 

Fourth,  A  course  in  penmanship  and  drawing. 

Fifth,  A  course  in  tool-work  in  woods  and  metals.  - 

Our  school  is  not  managed  on  the  assumption  that  every  boy 
who  goes  through  it  will  be  a  mechanic,  or  that  he  will  be  a 
;  manufacturer.  They  will  doubtless  find  their  way  into  all  the 
professions.  We  strive  to  help  them  find  their  true  callings, 
and  we  prejudice  them  against  none.1  I  have  no  sort  of  doubt, 
however,  that  the  grand  result  will  be  that  many  who  otherwise 
would  eke  out  a  scanty  subsistence  as  clerks,  book-keepers, 
salesmen,  poor  lawyers,  murderous  doctors,  whining  preachers, 
abandoned  penny-a-liners,  or  hardened  "  school-keepers  "  will  be 
led,  through  the  instrumentality  of  our  school,  to  positions  of 
honor  and  comfort  as  mechanics,  engineers,  or  manufacturers. 

NO   ARTICLES   MADE  FOE,   SALE. 

For  the  purpose  of  discountenancing  certain  grave  popular 
fallacies  in  this  country,  I  will  add  a  word,  even  at  the  risk  of 
repeating  what  I  have  said  elsewhere,  as  to  our  plan  of  shop 
management.  We  do  not  manufacture  articles  for  sale,  nor  do 
we  pretend  to  fully  teach  particular  trades. 

1  In  June,  1881,  I  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Chicago  Tribune :  "  We  do  not  expect 
that  all  will  develop  into  fine  mechanics  just  because  all  are  required  to  take  the 
regular  course  of  shop- work;  neither  do  we  expect  that  all  will  develop  into  fine 
mathematicians  just  because  all  study  algebra;  nor  that  all  will  acquire  a  fault- 
less English  style  just  because  we  lay  unusual  stress  upon  English  composition 
and  literature.  The  purpose  of  the  school  is  to  develop,  to  educate,  as  well  as  to 
train;  to  bring  out  into  clear  relief  those  very  aptitudes  which  ought  to  control 
the  destiny  of  the  boy.  What  we  complain  of  in  ordinary  schools  is  that  they 
are  one-sided,  — that  they  draw  (or  drive)  away  from  mechanical  pursuits  without 
regard  to  fitness.  Many  of  our  pupils  will  go  forward  through  the  higher  courses 
in  letters  or  engineering.  No  check  is  to  be  placed  upon  them.  An  increasing 
number  will  unquestionably  be  drawn  to  practical  mechanics  of  some  kind  or 
degree.  If  every  one  makes  a  wise  choice,  I  shall  be  satisfied.  I  am  anxious  only 
for  them  to  choose  aright.  If  the  school  (which  aims  impartially  to  be  a  mental 
and  moral  and  manual  training  school)  should  serve  no  other  end  but  that  of 
enabling  a  parent  to  decide  what  to  do  with  his  son,  it  would  still  be  worth  all 
it  cost." 


Chap.  VII,]  THE   SCHOOL   IS   NOT  A   FACTORY.  195 

A  shop  which  manufactures  for  the  market,  and  expects  a 
revenue  from  the  sale  of  its  products,  is  necessarily  confined 
to  salable  work,  and  a  systematic  and  progressive  series  of  exer- 
cises is  practically  impossible.  If  the  shop  is  managed  in  the 
interest  of  the  student,  he  is  allowed  to  leave  a  step  or  a  process 
the  moment  he  has  fairly  learned  it ;  if  it  is  managed  with  a 
view  to  an  income  (and  the  school  will  be  counted  a  failure  if 
its  income  is  wanting),  the  boys  will  be  kept  at  what  they  can 
do  best,  and  new  lessons  will  be  few  and  far  between.  In  such 
a  shop  the  pupils  will  suffer  too  much  the  evils  of  a  modern 
apprenticeship. 

"  The  common  apprentice  is  a  drudge  set  to  execute  all  kinds  of  miscel- 
laneous jobs.  There  is  no  systematic  gradation  in  the  difficulty  of  the 
exercises  given  him ;  more  than  half  his  hours  are  purely  wasted,  and  the 
other  half  are  spent  on  work  unsuited  to  his  capacity.  What  wonder  that 
four,  five,  or  six  years  make  of  him  a  bad,  unintelligent,  unskillful  machine  1 " 
—  PROF.  SYLVANUS  THOMPSON. 

A  very  bright  boy  of  seventeen  years  had  expected  last  fall 
to  enter  a  pattern-shop  in  St.  Louis  as  an  apprentice,  but  was 
disappointed,  there  being  no  vacancy  in  the  number  of  appren- 
tices allowed.  He  therefore  came  to  the  Manual  Training 
School,  and  during  the  year  made  excellent  progress,  not  only 
in  carpentry  and  wood-turning,  but  in  drawing^  mathematics, 
and  physics.  When  he  showed  me  some  of  his  handiwork  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  I  asked  him  if  he  would  have  made 
equal  progress  as  an  apprentice?  "No,"  said  he,  "I  should 
have  spent  most  of  the  first  year  sweeping  out  offices  and  run- 
ning errands." 1 

SELF-SUPPORTING   SCHOOLS. 

I  fancy  there  is  no  more  pernicious  fallacy  than  this  of  mak- 
ing a  school  self-supporting  by  manufacturing  for  the  market. 
Suppose  you  attempt  to  maintain  one  of  those  popular  humbugs, 
a  commercial  college,  on  that  theory ;  or  to  run  a  full  medical 
school,  without  endowment,  on  the  self-supporting  plan  (the 

1  Since  the  above  was  written,  a  gentleman  told  me  of  his  father's  experience 
when  learning  the  trade  of  a  tanner,  in  Philadelphia,  many  years  ago.  He  lived 
in  the  family  of  his  employer,  and  during  the  first  six  months  he  tended  the  baby. 


196  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap,  VII, 

students  would  probably  write  prescriptions  cheap,  and  cut  on 
legs  for  half-price) ;  or  to  manage  a  public  school  of  oratory 
and  English  composition  on  the  strength  of  an  income  derived 
from  contributions  to  newspapers  and  magazines,  and  from 
orations  made  and  delivered  to  order !  Nothing  could  be  more 
absurd,  and  yet  the  cases  are  closely  parallel.  No,  do  not  be 
beguiled  by  the  seductive  promise  of  an  income  from  the  shop. 
Admit  from  the  first  the  well-established  fact,  that  a  good 
school  for  thorough  education  on  whatever  subject  costs  money, 
both  for  its  foundation  and  its  support. 

Closely  connected  is  the  matter  of  teaching  particular  trades, 
to  which  the  lads  shall  be  strictly  confined.  Such  a  course 
may  work  well  in  monarchies,  where  the  groove  in  which  one 
is  to  run  is  cut  out  for  him  before  he  is  born  ;  but  it  is  un- 
suited  to  the  soil  and  atmosphere  of  America.  A  single  trade 
is  educationally  very  narrow,  while  their  number  is  legion. 
"The  arts  are  few,  the  trades  are  many,"  says  Mr.  Runkle. 
The  arts  underlie  all  trades :  therefore,  let  us  teach  the  arts  as 
impartially  and  thoroughly  as  possible,  and  then  it  is  but  a 
step  to  a  trade. 

BUT   A   STEP   TO   A   TRADE. 

And  this  brings  me  to  a  very  important  point.  Admitting 
that  with  a  suitable  outfit  of  tools,  shops,  etc.,  a  program  such 
as  I  have  described  can  be  carried  out,  you  ask,  "  Cui  bono  ? 
What,  after  all,  is  the  manual  training  acquired  at  school 
good  for  ?  Has  the  mind  been  nourished  through  the  fingers' 
ends  ?  Has  the  hand  gained  any  enduring  skill  ?  Is  it  really 
but  a  step  from  the  door  of  the  manual  training  school  to 
the  shop  of  the  craftsman  ?  " 

Experience  answers  all  these  questions  satisfactorily,  and 
adds  that  there  is  scarcely  a  calling  in  society  that  is  not  edified 
by  manual  training.  Rousseau  once  remarked  that  "  to  know 
how  to  use  one's  fingers  gave  a  superiority  in  every  condition 
in  life."  I  recently  made  systematic  inquiry  among 'the  parents 
of  my  boys,  as  to  the  effect  of  the  one  or  two  year's  training  in 
our  school.  Their  reports  on  the  points  now  under  considera- 
tion are  both  interesting  and  encouraging.  They  write  :  — 


Chap,  VII.]  THE    TEST   OF 

*  "  Gerald  takes  great  interest  in  fixing  up  things  generally." 

"  Charles  fixed  my  sewing-machine." 

"  George  has  made  many  little  matters  of  household  utility, 
and  seems  to  delight  in  it." 

"  We  go  to  Henry  to  have  chairs  mended,  shelves  put  up, 
etc.,  and  he  does  excellent  work.  He  made  a  fine  set  of  screen 
frames." 

"  The  mechanical  faculty  was  quite  small  in  John's  case,  and 
it  has  been  developed  to  a  remarkable  extent." 

"  Leo  does  all  the  jobs  around  the  house ;  "  and  so  on  for 
nearly  a  hundred  pupils. 

Again,  the  parents  testify  to  an  increased  interest  in  practical 
affairs,  in  shops  and  machinery,  and  in  such  books  and  periodi- 
cals as  the  Scientific  American.  Beyond  question,  there  is 
a  certain  intellectual  balance,  a  good  mechanical  judgment,  a 
sort  of  level-headedness  in  practical  matters,  consequent  upon 
this  sort  of  training,  that  in  value  far  outweighs  special  prod- 
ucts. Said  Rousseau,  in  his  Emttius,  a  hundred  and  twenty 
years  ago :  u  If,  instead  of  keeping  a  boy  poring  over  books,  I 
employ  him  in  a  workshop,  his  hands  will  be  busied  to  the 
improvement  of  his  understanding ;  he  will  become  a  philoso- 
pher while  he  thinks  himself  only  an  artisan." 

As  to  enduring  skill,  I  will  let  you  judge  for  yourselves. 
The  blacksmithing  has  occupied  the  second-year  class  about 
two  hundred  hours,  —  ten  a  week.  Each  man  had  his  forge 
and  set  of  tools,  and  each  executed  substantially  the  same  set 
of  pieces.  Here  is  a  partial  set  of  the  work  done.  The  pieces 
are  numbered  in  the  order  in  which  they  were  done.  They 
were  first  wrought  in  cold  lead,  while  the  order  of  the  steps 
and  the  details  of  form  were  studied,  and  then  they  were  exe- 
cuted in  hot  iron. 

One  of  our  engineering  students,  who  had  had  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty  hours  in  the  blacksmith's  shop,  and  an 
equal  time  in  the  machine-shop,  writes  to  thank  me  especially 
for  insisting  upon  his  shop-practice.  Without  it  he  would 
have  had  to  decline  a  fine  position,  which  with  it  he  filled 
satisfactorily. 

As  our  school  has  seen  but  two  years,  I  cannot  appeal  to  its 


198  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATUEE.  [Chap,  VII, 

graduates  to  answer  the  question  :  How  far  is  it  from  our  door 
to  positions  as  journeymen  mechanics  ?  Hence,  I  avail  myself 
of  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Thomas  Foley,  instructor  of  forging, 
vise-work,  and  machine-tool  work  in  the  Boston  Mechanic  Art 
School.  He  had  himself  served  an  apprenticeship  of  seven 
years,  and  after  several  years  at  his  trade  had  given  instruction 
for  five  years.  We  must  consider  him  a  competent  judge.  In 
his  report  to  Prof.  Runkle,  and  contributed  by  the  latter  to  the 
recent  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of 
Education,  Mr.  Foley  says :  "  The  system  of  apprenticeship  of 
the  present  day,  as  a  general  rule,  amounts  to  very  little  for  the 
apprentice,  considering  the  time  he  must  devote  to  the  learning 
of  his  trade.  He  is  kept  upon  such  work  as  will  most  profit  his 
employer,  who  thus  protects  himself.  .  .  .  Now,  it  appears  like 
throwing  away  two  or  three  years  of  one's  life  to  attain  a 
knowledge  of  any  business  that  can  be  acquired  in  the  short 
space  of  twelve  or  thirteen  days  by  a  proper  course  of  instruc- 
tion. [I  take  it  that  by  twelve  days  he  means  a  hundred  and 
twenty  hours  distributed  over  about  forty  days.]  The  dex- 
terity which  comes  from  practice  can  be  reached  as  quickly 
after  the  twelve  days'  instruction  as  after  the  two  or  more 
years  spent  as  an  apprentice  under  the  adverse  circumstances 
mentioned  above." 

Mr.  Foley  secures  the  best  results  from  lessons  only  three 
hours  long.  He  adds  :  "  The  time  is  just  sufficient  to  create  a 
vigorous  interest  without  tiring ;  it  also  leaves  a  more  lasting 
impression  than  by  taxing  the  physical  powers  for  a  longer 
period.  We  have  tried  four  hours  a  day,  but  find  that  a  larger 
amount  of  work,  and  of  better  quality,  can  be  produced  in  the 
three-hour  lessons." 

I  consider  this  testimony  of  Mr.  Foley  very  conclusive.  It 
effectually  disposes  of  the  claim,  so  often  put  forward  by  prac- 
tical men,  that  no  boy  can  learn  a  trade  properly  without  going 
to  the  shop  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  making  his  day 
of  ten  hours,  "  man-fashion ; "  and  that  dirt  and  drudgery,  and 
hard  knocks,  and  seasons  of  intense  weariness  and  disgust 
even,  are  essential  to  the  education  of  a  good  mechanic. 


Chap,  VII,]  IT  IS    WORTH  ALL   IT  COSTS.  199 


THE   COST. 

It  remains  for  me  to  touch  upon  the  second  important  ques- 
tion you  all  have  in  your  minds,  namely,  that  of  the  cost.  You 
are  practical  men  and  women,  and  you  wish  now  to  sit  down 
and  count  the  cost. 

We  set  out  in  St.  Louis  to  have  the  best  of  everything.  We 
bought  the  best  tools,  and  put  in  the  best  furniture.  We  have 
plenty  of  room  and  light  and  pure  air.  We  aim  to  have  good 
teachers  and  all  necessary  appliances.  Our  capacity  is  about 
two  hundred  and  forty  boys,  in  three  classes  of  one  hundred, 
eighty,  and  sixty,  in  the  first  year,  second  year,  third  year 
classes  respectively. 

Our  building  complete  cost  about $33,000 

Our  tools  and  school  furniture  ......       16,000 

If  we  add  the  cost  of  the  lot  (150  x  106£  feet)    .         .         .       14,400 

We  have  as  the  total  cost  of  our  plant        .         .         .     $63,400 

The  building  is  of  brick,  three  stories  high,  and  very  sub- 
stantial. 

Where  land  is  cheap,  and  less  or  lighter  machinery  is  used, 
less  money  would  suffice ;  but  let  no  one  deceive  himself  by 
supposing  that  the  reform  proposed  is  to  be  at  once  a  money- 
saving  one.  Such  a  school  costs  money,  but  it  is  a  grand  in- 
vestment. Said  one  of  our  benefactors  to  me  not  ten  days  ago, 
"I  feel  better  satisfied  with  the  money  I  have  put  into  the 
Manual  Training  School  than  with  any  other  money  I  have 
invested  in  St.  Louis." 

The  same  objection,  the  cost,  applies  to  chemical  and  physical 
laboratories  of  colleges ;  and  one  of  the  main  reasons  why  so 
many  so-called  colleges  in  the  Western  States  devote  their 
attention  almost  exclusively  to  classics,  mathematics,  and  his- 
tory is  that  they  are  too  poor  to  properly  cultivate  chemistry, 
physics,  and  practical  mechanics. 

As  to  the  cost  of  instruction,  the  shop  is  about  as  expensive 
per  hour  as  the  recitation  and  drawing  rooms.  Good  mechanics, 
fairly  educated,  who  are  at  the  same  time  endowed  with  the 


200  ITS   COMPLEMENTARY  NATURE.  [Chap.  VII, 

divine  gift  of  teaching,  are  rare.  We  have  a  first-class  machin- 
ist and  an  expert  blacksmith,  and  pay  each  twelve  hundred 
dollars  per  year.  The  size  of  our  divisions  is  generally  limited 
to  twenty  members ;  in  drawing,  we  shall  occasionally  "  double 
up." 

Incidentals  —  wood,  iron,  paper,  etc.,  and  the  wear  and  tear 
of  tools  —  amounted  last  year  to  about  seven  dollars  per  head. 
The  total  cost  of  supplies  and  instruction  in  all  the  depart- 
ments of  the  school,  and  all  incidentals,  next  year  is  estimated 
to  be  seventy-five  dollars  per  pupil. 

How  then,  say  you,  can  this  costly  reform  be  accomplished  ? 
The  public  schools  have  no  funds  to  spare  ;  salaries  are  still  too 
low,  and  the  demand  for  extensions  outruns  the  supply.  As 
Col.  Jacobson  of  Chicago  has  said,  "  The  alternative  before  you 
is  more  and  better  education  at  greater  expense ;  or  a  still  greater 
amount  of  money  wasted  on  soldiers  and  policemen,  destruction 
of  property,  and  stoppage  of  social  machinery.  The  money 
which  the  training  would  cost  will  be  spent  in  any  event.  It 
would  have  been  money  in  the  pocket  of  Pittsburg  if  she  could 
have  caught  her  rioters  of  July,  1877,  at  an  early  period  of 
their  career,  and  trained  them  at  any  expense  just  a  little  beyond 
the  point  at  which  men  are  likely  to  burn  things  promiscu- 
ously. It  is  wiser  arid  better  and  cheaper  to  spend  our  money 
in  training  good  citizens,  than  in  shooting  bad  ones." 

HOW   TO   GO   TO   WORK. 

There  are  two  ways  of  going  to  work :  — 

First,  Cut  down  somewhat,  if  necessary,  the  curriculum  of 
higher  studies,  and  incorporate  a  manual  department  with  your 
high  school.  The  investment  will  pay,  and  the  means  for 
further  growth  will  soon  be  found. 

Second,  Mature  your  plans,  and  lay  them  before  your  wealthy 
public-spirited  men.  Almost  for  the  first  time  in  America,  we 
are  harvesting  a  splendid  crop  of  millionaires.  They  abound 
in  every  city.  They  know  that  boundless  wealth  left  to  sons 
and  heirs  is  often  a  curse,  rarely  a  blessing,  and  they  would 
fain  put  it  to  the  noblest  uses.  In  England  such  wealth  would 
naturally  go  to  the  establishment  of  noble  families,  or  the  pur- 


Chap.  VII,]  AN  AMERICAN  PEERAGE.  201 

chase  of  grand  estates  which  should  be  transmitted  unimpaired 
to  the  oldest  sons  through  successive  generations. 

Our  American  peerage  shall  consist  of  those  who  devote  the 
gains  of  an  honorable  career  to  the  establishment  of  institutions 
for  the  better  education  of  generations  that  shall  come  after 
them.  Let  others  follow  the  example  of  Cornell  and  Vander- 
bilt,  Stevens  of  Hoboken,  Girard  of  Philadelphia,  Johns  Hop- 
kins of  Baltimore,  Case  of  Cleveland,  Rose  of  Terre  Haute,  the 
Commercial  Club  of  Chicago,  and  Gottlieb  Conzelman,  Samuel 
Cupples,  Edwin  Harrison,  and  Ralph  Sellew  of  St.  Louis. 


202  THE  FRUITS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.        [Chap,  VUL 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   FRUITS  OF  MANUAL  TRAINING.1 

THE  object  of  this  paper  is  to  consider  directly  the  fruits  of 
manual  training.  By  manual  training  I  do  not  mean 
merely  the  training  of  the  hand  and  arm.  If  a  school  should 
attempt  the  very  narrow  task  of  teaching  only  the  manual 
details  of  a  particular  trade  or  trades,  it  would,  as  Felix  Acller 
says,  violate  the  rights  of  the  children.  It  would  be  doing  the 
very  thing  I  have  always  protested  against.  That,  or  very 
nearly  that,  is  what  is  done  in  the  great  majority  of  European 
trade-schools.  They  have  no  place  in  our  American  system 
of  education.  ^. 

/    The  word  "  manual "  must,  for  the  present,  be  the  best  word 
to  distinguish  that  peculiar  system  of  liberal  education  which 
•/    recognizes  the  manual  as  well  as  the  intellectual.     I  advocate 
manual  training  for  all  children  as  an  elenient  in  general  educa- 
\    tion.     I  care  little  what  tools  are  used,  so  long  as  proper  habits 
\   (morals)  are  formed,  and  provided  the  windows  of  the  mind  are 
\  kept  open  toward  the  world  of  things  ai\d  forces,  physical  as 
^well  as  spiritual. 

/  We  do  not  wish  or  propose  to  neglect  or  underrate  literary 
and  scientific  culture  ;  we  strive  to  include  all  the  elements  in 
just  proportion.  When  the  manual  elements  which  are  essen- 
tial to  a  liberal  education  are  universally  accepted  and  incor- 
porated into  American  schools,  the  word  "  manual  "  may  very 
properly  be  dropped. 

I  use  the  word  "  liberal "  in  its  strict  sense  of  "  free."     No 
education  can  be  "  free  "  which  leaves  the  child  no  choice,  or 


V 


1  From  an  address   before  the  National  Teachers'  Association  at  Saratoga, 
July,  1883. 


Chap,  VIII,]  A   LIBERAL  EDUCATION.  203 

which  gives  a  bias  against  any  honorable  occupation  ;  which 
walls  up  the  avenues  of  approach  to  any  vocation  requiring 
intelligence  and  skill.  A  truly  liberal  education  educates 
equally  for  all  spheres  of  usefulness  ;  it  furnishes  the  broad 
foundation  on  which  to  build  the  superstructure  of  a  happy, 
useful,  and  successful  life.  To  be  sure,  this  claim  has  been 
made  for  the  old  education,  but  the  claim  is  not  allowed. 
The  new  education  has  the  missing  features  all  supplied.  The 
old  education  was  like  a  two-legged  stool,  it  lacked  stability ; 
the  new  education  stands  squarely  on  three  legs,  and  it  is 
steady  on  the  roughest  ground. 

I  claim  as  the  fruits  of  manual  training,  when  combined,  as 
it  always  should  be,  with  generous  mental  and  moral  training, 
the  following:  — 

1.  Larger  classes  of  boys  in  the  grammar  and  high  schools  ; 
2.  Better  intellectual  development ;  3.  A  more  wholesome 
moral  education ;  4.  Sounder  judgments  of  men  and  things, 
and  of  living  issues  ;  5.  Better  choice  of  occupations ;  6.  A 
higher  degree  of  material  success,  individual  and  social ;  7. 
The  elevation  of  many  of  the  occupations  from  the  realm  of 
brute,  unintelligent  labor,  to  positions  requiring  and  rewarding 
cultivation  and  skill ;  8.  The  solution  of  "  labor  "  problems.  I 
shall  touch  briefly  on  each  of  these  points. 

1.  BOYS  WILL  STAY  IN  SCHOOL  LONGER  THAN  THEY  DO 

NOW.  Every  one  knows  how  classes  of  boys  diminish  as  they 
approach  and  pass  through  the  high  school.  The  deserters 
scale  the  walls  and  break  for  the  shelter  of  active  life.  The 
drill  is  unattractive,  and,  so  far  as  they  can  see,  of  comparatively 
little  value.  There  is  a  wide  conviction  of  the  inutility  of 
schooling  for  the  great  mass  of  children  beyond  the  primary 
grades,  and  this  conviction  is  not  limited  to  any  class  or  grade 
of  intelligence.  Wage-workers  we  must  have,  and  the  gradu- 
ates of  the  higher  grades  are  not  expected  to  be  wage-workers. 
According  to  the  report  of  the  president  of  the  Chicago  School 
Board,  about  one  and  one-eighth  per  cent  of  the  boys  in  the 
public  schools  are  in  the  high  schools.  From  his  figures  it 
appears,  that,  if  every  boy  in  the  Chicago  public  schools  should 
extend  his  schooling  through  a  high  school,  the  four  classes 


204  THE  FRUITS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [Chap.  VIII, 

of  the  high  school  would  contain  some  nine  thousand  boys;  in 
point  of  fact,  they  have  about  four  hundred. 

Superintendent  Hinsdale  of  Cleveland  says,  "  Of  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  pupils  (boys  and  girls)  entering  the  primary 
school,  sixty  complete  the  primary,  twenty  finish  the  grammar, 
four  are  found  in  the  second  class  of  the  high,  and  one  graduates 
from  the  high  school."  In  St.  Louis  the  average  age  at  which 
pupils  withdraw  from  the  public  schools  is  thirteen  and  a  half 
years.  Now,  I  doubt  if  any  reflecting  person  would  consider  it 
an  unmixed  good  if  every  boy  in  the  city  should  go  through 
the  high  school  as  it  is  at  present  conducted.  Under  the 
circumstances  supposed,  all  would  probably  admit  that  some 
change  in  the  character  of  the  instruction  would  be  necessary. 

From  the  observed  influence  of  manual  training  upon  boys, 
and  indirectly  upon  the  parents,  I  am  led  to  claim,  that,  when 
the  last  year  of  the  grammar  and  the  high  schools  includes 
manual  training,  they  will  meet  a  much  wider  demand ;  that 
the  education  they  afford  will  be  really  more  valuable ;  and, 
consequently,  that  the  attendance  of  boys  will  be  more  than 
doubled.  Add  the  manual  elements,  with  their  freshness  and 
variety,  their  delightful  shop  exercises,  their  healthy  intellectual 
and  moral  atmosphere,  and  the  living  reality  of  their  work,  and 
the  boys  will  stay  in  school.  Such  a  result  would  be  an  unmixed 
good.  I  have  seen  boys  doing  well  in  a  manual  training  school 
who  could  not  have  been  forced  to  attend  an  ordinary  school. 
If  the  city  of  Boston  shall  carry  out  this  year,  as  I  hope  it 
will,  Superintendent  Seaver's  plan  for  a  public  manual  training 
school  for  three  hundred  boys,  there  will  be,  in  my  judgment, 
one  thousand  applications  for  admission  during  the  first  three 
years. 

2.  BETTER  INTELLECTUAL  DEVELOPMENT.  —  I  am  met  here 
with  the  objection  that  I  am  aiming  at  an  impossibility ;  that,  if 
I  attempt  to  round  out  education  by  the  introduction  of  manual 
training,  to  develop  the  creative  or  executive  side,  I  shall 
certainly  curtail  it  of  elements  more  valuable  still ;  that  the 
educational  cup  is  now  full ;  and  that,  if  I  pour  in  my  gross 
material  notions  on  one  side,  some  of  the  most  precious  intel- 
lectual fluid  will  certainly  flow  out  on  the  other. 


Chap,  VIII.]          UNBALANCED   TRAINING    TIRESOME.  205 

Now,  I  deny  that  the  introduction  of  manual  training  does 
of  necessity  force  out  any  essential  feature  of  mental  and  moral 
culture.  The  cup  may  be,  and  probably  is,  full  to  overflowing ; 
but  it  is  a  shrivelled  and  one-sided  cup.  It  is  as  sensitive  and 
active  in  its  own  defense  as  are  the  walls  of  the  stomach,  which, 
when  overfed  with  ill-assorted  food,  contracts,  rebels,  and  over- 
flows, but  which  expands  and  readily  digests  generous  rations 
of  a  varied  diet. 

The  education  of  the  hand  is  the  means  of  more  completely 
and  efficaciously  educating  the  brain.  Manual  dexterity  is  but 
the  evidence  of  a  certain  kind  of  mental  power ;  and  this  mental 
power,  coupled  with  a  familiarity  with  the  tools  the  hands  use, 
is  doubtless  the  only  basis  of  that  sound,  practical  judgment 
and  ready  mastery  of  material  forces  which  always  characterize 
those  well  fitted  for  the  duties  of  active,  industrial  life. 

Intellectual  growth  is  not  to  be  gauged  by  the  length  or 
number  of  the  daily  recitations.  I  firmly  believe  that  in  most 
of  our  schools  there  is  too  much  sameness  and  monotony,  too 
much  intellectual  weariness  and  consequent  torpor.  Hence,  if 
we  abridge  somewhat  the  hours  given  to  books,  and  introduce 
exercises  of  a  widely  different  character,  the  result  is  a  positive 
intellectual  gain.  There  is  plenty  of  time  if  you  will  but  use 
it  aright.  Throw  into  the  fire  those  modern  instruments  of 
mental  torture,  —  the  spelling  and  defining  books.  Banish 
English  grammar,  and  confine  to  reasonable  limits  geography 
and  word-analysis.  Take  mathematics,  literature,  science,  and 
art  in  just  proportion,  and  you  will  have  time  enough  for 
drawing  and  the  study  of  tools  and  mechanical  methods. 

No  one  can  learn  from  a  book  the  true  force  of  technical 
terms  and  definitions,  nor  the  properties  of  materials.  All 
descriptive  words  and  names  must  base  their  meaning  upon 
our  own  consciousness  of  the  things  they  signify.  The  obscuri- 
ties of  the  text-books  (often  doubly  obscure  from  the  lack  of 
proper  training  on  the  part  of  the  authors,  who  describe  pro- 
cesses they  never  tried,  and  objects  they  never  saw)  vanish 
before  the  steady  gaze  of  a  boy  whose  hands  and  eyes  have 
assisted  in  the  building  of  mental  images. 

Then,  again,  the  habit  of  clear-headedness,  of  precision  in 


206  THE  FEUITS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [Chap,  VIII. 

regard  to  the  minor  details  of  a  subject  (which  is  absolutely 
essential  in  the  shop),  an  exact  and  experimental  knowledge 
of  the  full  force  of  the  words  and  symbols  used,  stretches 
with  its  wholesome  influence  into  the  study  of  words  and  the 
structure  of  language.  As  Felix  Adler  says,  the  doing  of  one 
thing  well  is  the  beginning  of  doing  all  things  well.  I  am  a 
thorough  disbeliever  in  the  doctrine  that  it  is  ever  educationally 
useful  to  commit  to  memory  words  which  are  not  understood. 
The  memory  has  its  abundant  uses,  and  should  be  carefully 
cultivated ;  but  when  it  usurps  the  place  of  the  understanding, 
when  it  beguiles  the  mind  into  the  habit  of  accepting  the 
images  of  words  for  the  images  of  the  things  the  words  stand 
for,  then  the  memory  becomes  a  positive  hinderance  to  intel- 
lectual development.1 

3.  A  MORE  WHOLESOME  MOEAL  EDUCATION.  —  The  finest 
fruit  of  education  is  character;  and  the  more  complete  and 
symmetrical,  the  more  perfectly  balanced  the  education,  the 
choicer  the  fruit. 

To  begin  with,  I  have  noted  the  good  effect  of  occupation. 
The  program  of  a  manual  training  school  has  something  to 
interest  and  inspire  every  boy.  The  daily  session  is  six  full 
hours,  but  I  have  never  found  it  too  long.  The  school  is  not 
a  bore  ;  and  holidays,  except  for  the  name  of  the  thing,  are  un- 
popular. I  have  been  forced  to  make  strict  rules  to  prevent 
the  boys  from  crowding  into  the  shops  and  drawing  rooms  on 
Saturdays  and  after  school  hours.  There  is  little  tendency, 

i  ' '  Unintelligent  memorizing  is  at  best  a  most  questionable  educational  method. 
For  one,  I  utterly  disbelieve  in  it.  It  never  did  me  any  thing  but  harm;  and 
learning  by  heart  the  Greek  grammar  did  me  harm,  —  a  great  deal  of  harm. 
While  I  was  doing  it,  the  observing  and  reflective  powers  lay  dormant;  indeed, 
they  were  systematically  suppressed;  their  exercise  was  resented  as  a  sort  of 
impertinence.  We  boys  stood  up  and  repeated  long  rules,  and  yet  longer  lists  of 
exceptions  to  them;  and  it  was  drilled  into  us  that  we  were  not  there  to  reason,  but 
to  rattle  off  something  written  on  the  blackboard  of  our  minds.  The  faculties 
we  had  in  common  with  the  raven  were  thus  cultivated  at  the  expense  of  that 
apprehension  and  reason  which,  Shakespere  tells  us,  makes  man  like  the  angels 
and  God.  And  so,  looking  back  from  this  standpoint  of  thirty  years  later,  and 
thinking  of  the  game  which  has  now  been  lost  or  won,  I  silently  listen  to  that 
talk  about  '  the  severe  intellectual  training,'  in  which  a  parrot-like  memorizing 
did  its  best  to  degrade  boys  to  the  level  of  learned  dogs." —CHARLES  FRANCIS 
ADAMS,  JR.,  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Oration,  1883. 


Chap.  VIII.]  MORAL   EDUCATION.  207 

therefore,  to  stroll  about,  looking  for  excitement.  The  exer- 
cises of  the  day  fill  the  mind  with  thoughts  pleasant  and 
profitable,  at  home  and  at  night.  A  boy's  natural  passion  for 
handling,  fixing,  and  making  things  is  systematically  guided 
into  channels  instructive  and  useful,  as  parents  freely  relate. 

Again,  success  in  one  branch  or  study  (shop  exercises  are 
marked  like  those  of  the  recitation  room)  encourages  effort  in 
others,  and  the  methods  of  the  shop  affect  the  whole  school. 
Gradually  the  students  acquire  two  most  valuable  habits,  which 
are  certain  to  influence  their  whole  lives  for  good;  namely, 
precision  and  method.  As  Professor  Runkle  says,  "What- 
ever cultivates  care,  close  observation,  exactness,  patience,  and 
method  must  be  valuable  training  and  preparation  for  all 
studies  and  all  pursuits." 

Dr.  Adler  has  pointed  out,  with  great  force  and  elegance,  the 
influence  of  the  exercises  of  the  shop  upon  the  formation  of 
character.  This  influence,  he  holds,  will  be  "  nothing  short  of 
revolutionary,  inasmuch  as  it  will  help  to  overthrow  many 
of  the  impure  conceptions  that  prevail  at  the  present  day." 
The  tasks  we  set  are  not  to  be  judged  by  commercial  standards ; 
our  standard  is  one  hundred  per  cent.  The  articles  we  make 
are  not  to  be  sold ;  they  have  no  pecuniary  value ;  they  are 
merely  typical  forms ;  their  worth  consists  in  being  true  or  in 
being  beautiful,  as  the  case  may  be. 

The  manual  training  school,  when  well  conducted,  seems  to 
me  to  furnish  to  its  pupils  just  the  opportunity  which  Walter 
Scott,  in  Waverley,  says  that  his  young  hero  was  losing  for 
ever,  —  "  the  opportunity  of  acquiring  habits  of  firm  and  assidu- 
ous application ;  of  gaining  the  art  of  controlling,  directing,, 
and  concentrating  the  powers  of  his  mind  for  earnest  investi- 
gation,—  an  art  far  more  essential  than  even  that  intimate1 
acquaintance  with  classical  learning  which  is  the  primary  object 
of  study  "  (at  school). 

4.  SOUNDER  JUDGMENTS  OF  MEN  AND  THINGS.  —  The  pro- 
verbially poor  judgments  of  scholars  have  led  to  the  popular 
belief  that  theory  is  one  thing  and  practice  a  very  different 
thing  ;  that  theoretically  a  thing  is  one  way,  practically  another. 
The  truth  is,  that  correct  theory  and  practice  agree  perfectly. 


208  THE  FRUITS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [Chap,  VIII, 

If  in  his  theory  one  leaves  out  a  single  element  of  the  problem, 
or  fails  to  give  each  its  due  weight,  his  theory  is  false.  The 
school-men  have  been  so  accustomed  to  living  in  an  ideal  world, 
the  world  of  books  and  books  only,  where  they  have  found 
only  ideal  problems,  and  they  have  been  so  ignorant  of  the  real 
world  and  the  conditions  of  real  problems,  that  their  solutions 
have  very  generally  been  false. 

A  harmonious  culture  develops  common-sense,  and  common- 
sense  is  at  the  basis  of  good  judgment.  We  aim  to  raise  that 
kind  of  fruit.  Boys  who  put  every  theory  to  the  practical  test ; 
who  know  something  about  what  the  idealists  call  "  the  total 
depravity  of  inanimate  things;"  who  probe  and  test  every 
statement  and  appliance  ;  with  whom  authority  and  tradition, 
the  bane  of  too  much  "book-learning,"  have  little  influence, 
and  who  therefore  are  apt  to  take  things  at  their  true  value, 
—  are  fitted  to  focus  correctly  upon  the  problems  of  real 
life. 

We  hear  much,  and  with  good  reason,  of  the  value  of  direc- 
tive intelligence.  To  be  a  director,  one  must  have  good  judg- 
ment. He  who  would  successfully  direct  the  labor  of  other 
men  must  first  learn  the  art  of  successful  labor  himself;  and 
he  who  would  direct  a  machine  properly  must  understand  the 
principles  of  its  construction,  and  be  personally  skilled  in  the 
arts  of  preservation  and  repair.  Dr.  Harris,  therefore,  tells 
but  a  half-truth  when  he  says  that  "the  new  discovery  (the 
invention  of  a  new  tool)  will  make  the  trade  learned  to-day, 
after  a  long  and  tedious  apprenticeship,  useless  to-morrow. 
The  practical  education,  therefore,  is  not  an  education  of  the 
hand  to  skill,  but  of  the  brain  to  directive  intelligence.  The 
educated  man  can  learn  to  direct  a  new  machine  in  three 
weeks,  while  it  requires  three  years  to  learn  a  new  manual  labor." 
(Education,  May-June,  1883.) 

This  last  sentence  is  not  clear  to  me.  Somehow  it  seems  to 
imply  that  the  man  who  learns  to  run  a  machine  should  be  more 
intelligent,  and  require  more  education,  than  the  man  who 
made  it.  As  to  "  directive  intelligence,"  I  respectfully  submit 
the  following  as  a  substitute  for  the  dictum  of  Mr.  Harris : 
"The  practical  education  is,  therefore,  an  education  of  the 


Chap,VIIl]  CHOICE   OF  OCCUPATION.  209 

hand  to  skill  and  of  the  brain  to  intelligence.  The  combination 
will  give  the  highest  directive  power." 

5.  BETTER  CHOICE  OF  OCCUPATIONS.  —  This  point  is  one 
of  the  greatest  importance,  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life. 
An  error  here  is  often  fatal.  But  to  choose  without  knowledge 
is  to  draw  as  in  a  lottery ;  and  when  boys  know  neither  them- 
selves nor  the  world  they  are  to  live  in,  and  when  parents  do 
not  know  their  own  children,  it  is  more  than  an  even  chance 
that  the  square  plug  will  get  into  the  round  hole. 

Parents  often  complain  to  me  that  their  sons  who  have  been 
to  school  all  their  lives  have  no  choice  of  occupation,  or  that 
they  choose  to  be  accountants  or  clerks,  instead  of  manufac- 
turers or  mechanics.  These  complaints  are  invariably  unrea- 
sonable ;  for  how  can  one  choose  at  all,  or  wisely,  when  he 
knows  so  little  !  Yet  their  decisions  are  natural. 

I  confidently  believe  that  the  development  of  the  manual 
elements  in  school  will  prevent  those  serious  errors  in  the 
choice  of  a  vocation  which  too  often  wreck  the  fondest  hopes. 
It  is  not  assumed  that  every  boy  who  enters  a  manual  training 
school  is  to  be  a  mechanic ;  his  training  leaves  him  free.  No 
pupils  were  ever  more  unprejudiced,  better  prepared  to  look 
below  the  surface,  less  the  victims  of  a  false  gentility.  Some 
find  that  they  have  no  taste  for  manual  arts,  and  will  turn  into 
other  paths,  —  law,  medicine,  or  literature.  Great  facility  in 
the  acquisition  and  use  of  language  is  often  accompanied  by 
a  lack  of  either  mechanical  interest  or  power.  When  such  a 
bias  is  discovered,  the  lad  should  unquestionably  be  sent  to 
his  grammar  and  dictionary  rather  than  to  the  laboratory  or 
draugh ting-room.  On  the  other  hand,  decided  aptitude  for 
handicraft  is  not  unfrequently  coupled  with  a  strong  aversion 
to,  and  unfitness  for,  abstract  and  theoretical  investigations, 
and  especially  for  committing  to  memory. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in  such  cases,  more  time  should 
be  spent  in  the  shop,  and  less  in  the  lecture  and  recitation 
room.  Some  who  develop  both  natural  skill  and  strong  intel- 
lectual powers  will  push  011  through  the  polytechnic  school 
into  professional  life,  as  engineers  and  scientists.  Others  will 
find  their  greatest  usefulness,  as  well  as  highest  happiness, 


210  THE  FRUITS   OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.         [Chap,  VIIL 

in  some  branch  of  mechanical  work,  into  which  they  will 
readily  step  when  they  leave  school.  All  will  gain  intellect- 
ually by  their  experience  in  contact  with  things.  The  grand 
result  will  be  an  increasing  interest  in  manufacturing  pur- 
suits, more  intelligent  mechanics,  more  successful  manufac- 
turers, better  lawyers,  more  skillful  physicians,  and  more  useful 
citizens. 

In  the  past  comparatively  few  of  the  better  educated  have 
sought  the  manual  occupations.  The  one-sided  training  of  the 
schools  has  divided  active  men  into  two  classes,  —  those  who 
have  sought  to  live  by  the  work  of  their  own  hands,  and  those 
who  have  sought  to  live  by  the  work  of  other  men's  hands. 

Hitherto  men  who  have  aimed  to  cultivate  their  brains  have 
neglected  their  hands  ;  and  those  who  have  labored  with  their 
hands  have  found  no  opportunity  to  specially  cultivate  their 
brains.  The  crying  demand  to-day  is  for  intellectual  combined 
with  manual  training.  It  is  this  want  that  the  manual  training 
school  aims  to  supply. 

6.  MATERIAL  SUCCESS  FOR  THE  INDIVIDUAL  AND  FOR  THE 
COMMUNITY.  —  Material  success  ought  not  to  be  the  chief 
object  in  life,  tho  it  may  be  sought  with  honor,  and  worthily 
won ;  in  fact,  success  would  appear  to  be  inevitable  to  one  who 
possesses  health  and  good  judgment,  and  who,  having  chosen 
his  occupation  wisely,  follows  it  faithfully.  This  point  might, 
then,  be  granted  as  a  corollary  to  those  already  given  and 
without  further  argument. 

Our  graduates  have  been  out  of  school  less  than  a  year,  but 
I  have  seen  enough  to  justify  me  in  saying  that  their  chances 
of  material  success  are  unusually  good.  As  workmen,  they  will 
soon  step  to  the  front.  As  employers  and  manufacturers,  they 
will  be  self-directing  and  efficient  inspectors ;  they  will  be 
little  exposed  to  the  wiles  of  incompetent  workmen. 

On  the  other  hand,  communities  will  prosper  when  their 
young  men  prosper.  This  is  the  dynamic  age  ;  the  great  forces 
of  Nature  are  being  harnessed  to  do  our  work,  and  we  are  just 
beginning  to  learn  how  to  drive.  Invention  is  in  its  youth, 
and  manual  training  is  the  very  breath  of  its  nostrils. 

Some  appear  to  think  that  the  continued  invention  of  tools 


Chap,  Vm,]      THE  DIGNITY   OF  INTELLIGENT  LABOR.  211 

and  new  machines  will  diminish  the  demand  for  men  skilled  in 
mechanical  matters ;  but  they  are  clearly  wrong.  True,  they 
will  dimmish  the  demand  for  unintelligent  labor,  —  and  some 
prominent  educators,  who  take  ground  against  manual  training, 
have  apparently  no  idea  of  labor  except  unintelligent  labor. 
If  there  are  more  machines,  there  must  be  more  makers,  invent- 
ors, and  directors.  Not  one  useful  invention  in  ten  is  made 
by  a  man  who  is  not  a  skilled  mechanic.  But,  as  I  have  said, 
the  mechanics  have  suffered  from  a  one-sided  education.  They 
have  paid  too  litle  attention  to  science  and  the  graphic  arts. 
Hence  every  manual  pursuit  will  become  elevated  in  the  intel- 
lectual scale  when  mechanics  are  broadly,  liberally  trained. 

7.  THE  ELEVATION  OF  MANUAL  OCCUPATIONS  FROM  THE 
REALM  OF  BRUTE,  UNINTELLIGENT  LABOR  TO  A  POSITION 
REQUIRING  AND  REWARDING  CULTIVATION  AND  SKILL.  —  A 
brute  can  exert  brute  strength  :  to  man  alone  is  it  given  to 
invent  and  use  tools.  Man  subdues  Nature  and  develops  art 
through  the  instrumentality  of  tools.  To  turn  a  crank,  or  to 
carry  a  hod,  one  needs  only  muscular  power.  But  to  devise 
and  build  the  light  engine,  which,  under  the  direction  of  a 
single  intelligent  master-spirit,  shall  lift  the  burden  of  a  hun- 
dred men,  requires  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  and  manual 
skill.  So  the  hewers  of  wood  and  the  drawers  of  water  are  in 
this  age  of  invention  replaced  by  saw  and  planing  mills  and 
water-works  requiring  some  of  the  most  elaborate  embodiments 
of  thought  and  skill.  Can  any  one  stand  beside  the  modern 
drawers  of  water,  the  mighty  engines  that  day  and  night  draw 
from  the  Father  of  Waters  the  abundant  supply  of  a  hundred 
thousand  St.  Louis  homes,  and  not  bow  before  the  evidence  of 
"cultured  minds  and  skillful  hands,"  written  in  unmistakable 
characters  all  over  the  vast  machinery  ? 

In  like  manner  every  occupation  becomes  ennobled  by  the 
transforming  influence  of  thought  and  skill.  The  farmer  of 
old  yoked  his  wife  with  his  cow,  and  together  they  dragged  the 
clumsy  plow  or  transported  the  scanty  harvest.  Down  to  fifty 
years  ago  the  life  of  a  farmer  was  associated  with  unceasing, 
stupefying  toil.  What  will  it  be  when  every  farmer's  boy  is 
properly  educated  and  trained  ?  Farming  is  rapidly  becoming 


212  THE  FRUITS   OF  MANUAL   TRAINING.        [ctiap,  VIII, 

a  matter  of  horse-power,  steam-power,  and  machinery.  Who, 
then,  shall  follow  the  farm  with  honor,  pleasure,  and  success  ? 
Evidently  only  he  whose  cultivated  mind  and  trained  hands 
make  him  a  master  of  the  tools  he  must  use.  With  his  bench 
and  sharp-edged  tools,  with  his  forge  and  his  lathe,  and  with 
his  chemical  laboratory,  he  will  direct  and  sustain  his  farm 
with  unparalleled  efficiency. 

Here  is  where  the  influence  of  manual  training  will  be  most 
beneficial.  It  will  bring  into  the  manual  occupations  a  new 
element,  a  fairly  educated  class,  which  will  greatly  increase 
their  value,  at  the  same  time  that  it  gives  them  new  dignity. 

8.  THE  SOLUTION  OF  LABOR  PROBLEMS.  —  Finally,  I  claim 
that  the  manual  training  school  furnishes  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  labor  vs.  capital.  The  new  education  will  give 
more  complete  development,  versatility,  and  adaptability  to  cir- 
cumstance. No  liberally  trained  workman  can  be  a  slave  to  a 
method,  or  depend  upon  the  demand  for  a  particular  article 
or  kind  of  labor.  It  is  only  the  uneducated,  unintelligent 
mechanic  who  suffers  from  the  invention  of  a  new  tool.  The 
thoroughly  trained  mechanic  enjoys  the  extraordinary  advan- 
tage of  being  able,  like  the  well-taught  mathematician,  to  apply 
his  skill  to  every  problem ;  with  every  new  tool  and  new  pro- 
cess he  rises  to  new  usefulness  and  worth. 

The  leaders  of  mobs  are  not  illiterate,  but  they  are  narrow, 
the  victims  of  a  one-sided  education  ;  and  their  followers  are  the 
victims  of  a  double  one-sidedness.  Give  them  a  liberal  train- 
ing, and  you  emancipate  them  alike  from  the  tyranny  of  un- 
worthy leaders  and  the  slavery  of  a  vocation.  The  sense  of 
hardship  and  wrong  will  never  come,  and  bloody  riots  will 
cease,  when  workingmen  shall  have  such  intellectual,  mechani- 
cal, and  moral  culture,  that  new  tools,  new  processes,  and  new 
machines  will  only  furnish  opportunities  for  more  culture,  and 
add  new  dignity  and  respect  to  their  calling. 

NOTE.  —  In  May,  1886,  I  gave  the  following  brief  statement  of  the  fruits 
of  manual  training,  in  the  Journal  of  Education :  — 

The  value  of  manual  training,  when  properly  combined  with  literary, 
scientific,  and  mathematical  studies,  will  be  shown  in  various  ways. 


Chap,  VIII ]      THE  LIFE-VALUE  OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.        213 

1.  Science  and  mathematics  will  profit  from  a  better  understanding  of 
forms,  materials,  and  processes,  and  from  the  readiness  with  which  their 
principles  may  be  illustrated. 

2.  Without  shop-work,  drawing  loses  half  its  value. 

3.  Correct  notions  of  things,  relations,  and  forces,  derived  from  actual 
handling  and  doing,  go  far  toward  a  just  comprehension  of  language  in 
general ;  that  is,  manual  training  cultivates  the  mechanical  and   scientific 
imagination,  and  enables  one  to  see  the  force  of  metaphors  in  which  physical 
terms  are  employed  to  express  metaphysical  truths. 

4.  Manual  training  will  stimulate  a  love  for  simplicity  of  statement,  and 
a  disposition  to  reject  fine-sounding  words  whose  meaning  is  obscure. 

5.  It  will  awaken  a  lively  interest  in  school,  and  invest  dull  subjects 
with  new  life. 

6.  It  will  keep  boys  and  girls  out  of  mischief,  both  in  and  out  of  school. 

7.  It  will  keep  boys  longer  at  school. 

8.  It  will  give  boys  with  strong  mechanical  aptitudes,  and  fondness  for 
objective  study,  an  equal  chance  with  those  of  good  memories  for  language. 

9.  It  will  materially  aid  in  the  selection  of  occupations  when  school-life  is 
over. 

10.  It  will  enable  an  employer  of  labor  to  better  estimate  the  comparative 
value  of  unskilled  and  skilled  labor,  and  to  exercise  a  higher  consideration 
for  the  laboring  man. 

11.  It  will  raise  the  standards  of  attainments  in  mechanical  occupations, 
and  invest  them  with  new  dignity  and  worth. 

12.  It  will  increase  the  bread-winning  and  home-making  power  of   the 
average  boy,  who  has  his  bread  to  win  and  his  home  to  make. 

13.  It  will  stimulate  invention.     The  age  of  invention  is  yet  to  come, 
and  manual  training  is  the  very  breath  of  its  nostrils. 

14.  We   shall   enjoy  the   extraordinary   advantage   of    having  lawyers, 
journalists,  and  politicians  with  more  correct  views  of  social  and  national 
conditions  and  problems. 

To  the  above  I  will  now  add :  — 

15.  It  will  help  to  prevent  the  growth  of  a  feeling  of  contempt  for  manual 
occupations  and  for  those  who  live  by  manual  labor. 

16.  It  will  to  a  certain  extent  readjust  social  standards  in  the  interest  of 
true  manliness  and  intrinsic  worth. 

17.  It  will  accelerate  the  progress  of  civilization  by  greatly  diminishing 
the  criminal  and  pauper  classes,  which  are  largely  made  up  of  those  who  are 
neither  willing  nor  able  to  earn  an  honest  living. 

18.  It  will  show  itself  in  a  hundred  ways  in  the  future  homes  of  our 
present  pupils :  on  the  one  hand,  in  the  convenience  and  economy  of  useful 
appliances ;  on  the  other,  in  evidences  of  good  taste  in  matters  of  grace  and 
beauty. 


214  A   FEATURE  IN  GENERAL   EDUCATION.        [chap,  IX, 


CHAPTER  IX. 

MANUAL  TRAINING  A  FEATURE  IN    GENERAL 
EDUCATION,  i 

~\TTITH  wonderful  unanimity  the  educational  forces  of 
*  V  America  are  facing  in  the  new  direction.  Formal 
education  is  much  broader  than  of  old,  and  the  methods  and 
materials  used  are  so  new  or  so  changed,  that  we  call  the  result 
the 

NEW   EDUCATION. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  the  "new"  education 
includes  the  "old."  We  tear  down  no  essential  parts  of  the 
old  temple,  but  we  have  added  at  least  two  wings  which  were 
needed  to  make  a  symmetrical  whole.  The  natural  science 
wing  brings  in  a  whole  world  of  new  material,  and  a  totally 
new  method  of  developing  ideas.  The  other  wing  is  that  of 
manual  training,  including  a  variety  of  drawing  and  the  intelli- 
gent use  of  a  large  range  of  typical  tools  and  materials. 

"  Man,"  says  Carlyle,  "  is  a  tool-using  animal.  He  can  use 
tools,  can  devise  tools ;  with  these  the  granite  mountains  melt 
into  light  dust  before  him ;  he  kneads  glowing  iron  as  if  it  were 
soft  paste ;  seas  are  his  smooth  highway,  winds  and  fire  his 
unwearying  steeds.  Nowhere  do  you  find  him  without  tools : 
without  tools,  he  is  nothing ;  with  tools,  he  is  all." 

You  know  how  bird-trainers  teach  a  canary  to  sing  a  particu- 
lar tune.  The  poor  bird  is  put  in  a  dark  place,  where  he  can 
see  nothing  of  interest,  and  then  compelled  to  hear  the  tune 
and  nothing  else.  Even  a  bird  is  constrained  to  a  certain 
amount  of  intellectual  activity,  and  in  sheer  desperation  he 

1  An  address  delivered  before  the  Social  Science  Association  of  Philadelphia, 
in  December,  1885. 


Chap,  IX.]  ONE-SIDED    TRAINING.  215 

sings  the  only  thing  he  is  allowed  to  think  of.  Have  we  not 
been  training  our  boys  too  much  on  the  same  plan  ?  In  our 
anxiety  to  keep  out  every  thing  low  and  sordid,  we  have  kept 
out  the  influence  of  the  working  world  as  much  as  possible. 
We  have  striven  to  make  artists  rather  than  artisans,  officers 
rather  than  privates,  essayists  rather  than  craftsmen.  Instead 
of  teaching  how  to  get  a  good  living  as  the  sine  qua  non  of 
useful,  independent  citizenship,  we  have  assumed  the  good  living 
and  have  taught  how  to  improve  its  advantages.  We  have 
walled  in  the  vision  of  our  pupils  till  they  could  look  only  in 
certain  directions,  see  certain  activities,  study  certain  forms  of 
mental  life.  Half  the  occupations  of  men,  half  the  domains 
of  knowledge,  many  of  the  means  and  ends  of  intellectual 
culture,  much  that  is  specially  favorable  to  moral  and  spiritual 
growth,  are  beyond  their  horizon.  Need  any  one  be  surprised 
at  the  result  of  such  seclusion?  Like  the  bird,  they  learn 
certain  tongues,  they  master  certain  arts,  they  become  familiar 
with  a  certain  limited  round  of  intellectual  life.  There  is  little 
freedom  of  choice  or  chance  for  liberal  growth.  They  must, 
perforce,  travel  certain  paths.  And  later  on  they  think,  and 
for  the  most  part  with  good  reason,  that  to  use  their  education 
—  by  which  they  mean  their  book  knowledge  —  they  must 
go  into  the  counting-room,  become  salesmen,  or  go  into  the 
"  learned  professions."  In  avoiding,  with,  almost  perfect  una- 
nimity, the  mechanic  arts,  they  do  not  make  an  intelligent 
choice ;  they  follow  only  an  ignorant  prejudice.  Now,  this  evil 
of  narrowness,  this  "violation  "  of  the  "rights"  of  children,  as 
Prof.  Felix  Adler  calls  it,  is  what  we  are  trying  to  cure  by  the 
introduction  of  the  manual  elements. 

EXCELLENCE  OF  OUR  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 

Let  me  be  just  to  the  bridge  that  has  brought  us  over,  to 
the  ladder  we  have  ourselves  climbed.  The  schools  need  no 
defender,  —  they  speak  for  themselves.  To  the  public  schools 
of  Massachusetts,  I  owe  more  than  I  can  ever  pay.  From  the 
door  of  a  country  high  school  I  stepped  up  to  the  college  gate, 
as  thousands  of  boys  have  done  since.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
say  an  unkind  or  disloyal  word  of  the  common-school  system. 


216  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.        [ Chap.  IX. 

The  schools  of  America  are  the  brightest  jewel  in  her  crown, 
the  sure  anchor  of  her  hope. 

But  does  not  the  world  move?  Does  it  not  become  the 
schoolmaster  to  keep  step  to  the  notes  of  progress?  Shall 
the  demands  of  the  age  greatly  change  ?  shall  we  depart 
widely  from  the  ways  of  our  fathers  in  every  thing  else,  in 
our  industries,  our  amusements,  in  the  circumstances  and  sur- 
roundings of  our  homes,  and  yet  make  no  change  in  the  con- 
tent of  our  school  education  ?  That  the  education  afforded  has 
in  the  main  been  judicious  and  fairly  complete,  I  do  not  call  in 
question. 

While  I  think  it  altogether  probable  that  throughout  all 
grades  there  is  too  much  of  committing  to  memory  the  words, 
statements,  and  conclusions  of  others,  as  mere  facts  to  be  re- 
membered for  their  own  sake,  and  too  little  practice  in  getting 
at  knowledge  for  one's  self  and  drawing  one's  own  conclusions, 
under  the  guidance,  but  not  at  the  command,  of  the  teacher, 
I  shall  confine  my  remarks  to-night  to  what  we  are  doing,  or 
ought  to  do,  for  boys  from  the  age  of  thirteen  to  seventeen 
or  eighteen.  Much  that  is  serviceable  for  boys  is  equally  so 
for  the  girls;  much  has  yet  to  be  done  in  developing  the  details 
for  young  children.  I  insist  that  some  manual  training  should 
run  through  the  entire  course.  The  necessary  appliances  for 
the  primary  and  grammar  grades  are  simple  and  few ;  the 
most  essential  thing  being  teachers,  into  whose  preparatory 
training  manual  elements  have  entered  in  their  due  propor- 
tion. By  the  eighth  or  ninth  year  of  school  life,  the  pupils 
are  ready  for  the  systematic  and  comprehensive  work  I  will 
now  give  in  outline. 

THE 'DAILY  PROGRAM  OF  THE  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 

The  school-time  of  the  pupils  is  about  equally  divided  be- 
tween mental  and  manual  exercises.  The  daily  session  begins 
at  9  A.M,  and  closes  at  3.30  P.M.,  thirty  minutes  being  allowed 
for  lunch.  Each  pupil  has  daily  three  recitations,  one  hour  of 
drawing  and  penmanship,  and  two  hours  of  shop-practice. 


Chap,  IX,]  PUT   THE    WHOLE   BOY   TO    SCHOOL.  217 


THE   COUESE   OF   INSTRUCTION 

covers  three  years,  and  embraces  five  parallel  lines,  —  three 
purely  intellectual,  and  two  both  intellectual  and  manual,  —  as 
follows :  — 

First,  A  course  of  pure  mathematics,  including  arithmetic, 
algebra,  geometry,  and  plane  trigonometry. 

Second,  A  course  in  science  and  applied  mathematics,  includ- 
ing physical  geography,  botany,  natural  philosophy,  chemistry, 
mechanics,  mensuration,  and  book-keeping. 

Third,  A  course  in  language  and  literature,  including  Eng- 
lish grammar,  spelling,  composition,  literature,  history,  and  the 
elements  of  political  science  and  economy.  Latin  and  French 
are  introduced  as  electives  with  English  or  science. 

Fourth,  A  course  in  penmanship,  free-hand  and  mechanical 
drawing. 

Fifth,  A  course  of  tool  instruction,  including  carpentry, 
wood-turning,  molding,  brazing,  soldering,  forging,  and  bench 
and  machine  work  in  metals. 

Students  have  no  option  or  election  as  to  particular  studies, 
except  as  regards  Latin  and  French ;  each  must  conform  to  the 
course  as  laid  down,  and  take  every  branch  in  its  order. 

A  BROADER   EDUCATION. 

You  will  see,  then,  that  we  have  no  mean  or  narrow  object. 
"  The  education  which  the  manual  training  school  represents  is 
a  broader,  and  not,  as  the  opponents  of  the  new  education 
assert,  a  narrower  education."  We  put  the  whole  boy  to  school, 
not  a  part  of  him,  and  we  train  him  by  the  most  invigorating 
and  logical  methods.  We  believe  that  mental  activity  and 
growth  are  closely  allied  to  physical  activity  and  growth,  and 
that  each  is  secured  more  readily  and  more  fully  in  connection 
with  the  other  than  by  itself. 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  value  of  language  and 
letters,  of  books  and  literary  methods,  in  general  education. 
No  science  can  exist  without  letters.  We  only  insist  that 
neither  as  an  end  nor  as  a  means  does  literature,  even  with  the 


218  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.        [Chap.  IX, 

aid  of  pure  mathematics,  supply  more  than  half  the  needs  of 
a  healthy  education.1 

LITERARY  AND   SCIENCE   CULTURE. 

Pure  literature  is  a  matter  of  books  alone.  It  deals  with 
words  and  symbols,  and  is  concerned  only  with  the  forms  of 
verbal  expression.  The  thought  expressed  may  belong  to  any 
department  of  science  or  philosophy;  to  psychology,  botany,  or 
metaphysics  ;  to  religion,  history,  technology,  or  art :  the  form 
belongs  to  literature,  and  it  may  be  in  the  language  of  any 
people.  The  matter  of  form  is  in  the  realm  of  authority,  and 
every  thing  is  settled  by  an  appeal  to  authorities.2  The  con- 
ventions of  society  are  such  that  too  often  education  is  gauged 
by  the  amount  of  literary  culture  involved.  We  are  the  slaves 

1  "A  literary  training  is  not  the  best  preparation  for  the  pursuits  in  which  a 
large  proportion  of  the  population  are  now  engaged.  .  .  .  This  [literal^7]  training 
is  the  survival  of  a  method  well  enough  adapted  at  one  time  to  those  who  alone 
received  education  [i.e.  the  English  gentry  and  the  nobility],  but  unintentionally 
extended  to  other  classes,  who,  on  account  of  the  difference  of  their  pursuits, 
require  a  totally  different  system  of  education."  —  SIR  PHILIP  MAGNUS,  Report 
of  the  Education  Conference,  London,  1884,  vol.  ii.  p.  5. 

Sir  Philip  was  a  member  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  Technical  Instruction, 
and  its  report  was  largely  written  by  him.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  after  a 
very  thorough  examination  of  the  question  of  the  best  preliminary  education  for 
higher  technical  instruction  at  home  and  abroad,  and  especially  in  Germany, 
where  a  body  of  university  professors  had  recently  pronounced  against  the  real 
schools  and  in  favor  of  the  gymnasia,  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  a  curricu- 
lum consisting  of  mathematics  and  practical  science  (including  workshop  instruc- 
tion), drawing,  English  language  and  literature,  French,  German,  geography,  and 
history  is  the  best  preparation  for  the  higher  technical  instruction. 

"  But,"  he  adds,  — and  here  he  touches  on  one  of  the  reasons  for  the  compara- 
tive unpopularity  of  the  '  modern  side '  schools,  viz.,  incompetent  teachers,  —  "in 
order  that  it  may  yield  the  same  mental  discipline  and  intellectual  advantages 
which  a  boy  may  get  at  one  of  our  first-grade  public  [endowed]  schools  [like 
Rugby,  Eton,  Charterhouse,  etc.],  under  the  alternative  classical  training,  the 
masters  who  are  to  teach  science  must  be  men  of  the  same  cultivated  order  as 
those  under  whose  direction  our  public  schools  are  now  placed."  —  Ibid. 

"  So  long  as  primary  education  is  literary  instead  of  real,  and  so  long  as  there 
is  a  gulf  fixed  between  primary  and  secondary  education,  technical  instruction 
will  continue  to  be  a  sort  of  parasitic  off-shoot,  like  the  misletoe."  —  Editor  of 
London  Journal  of  Education,  June  1,  1887. 

2  I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  many  who  define  literature  differently. 
Taine  says  that  a  book  belongs  to  literature  in  so  far  as  it  expresses  beauty, 
sweetness,  purity,  or  emotions  of  any  sort;  in  so  far  as  it  illustrates  the  action  of 
forces,  it  belongs  to  science.    John  Burroughs  says  that  the  province  of  literature 
is  sentiment  and  imagination,  while  science  deals  with  demonstrable  facts.     John 


Chap,  IX,]  ART    VERSUS  LITERARY   CULTURE.  219 

of  fashion  in  education  as  well  as  in  dress,  and  often  fear  to 
claim  for  other  kinds  of  culture,  as  useful,  as  humane,  as  invig- 
orating, as  broadly  healthful,  as  that  of  letters,  the  value  and 
dignity  they  really  possess.  In  defence  of  the  new  education, 
it  has  been  said  that  "  the  intellectual  culture  of  active  art  is 
far  more  vigorous  than  that  of  literature.  In  literary  culture, 
we  feebly  and  indefinitely  grasp  ideas  by  their  association  with 
printed  words.  There  is  no  life,  no  force  in  the  object  of  our 
study.  In  industrial  art,  we  are  continually  stimulated  by  the 
presence  of  the  object,  and  the  operations  we  are  performing ; 
and  our  perceptions  are  clear,  positive,  and  exact.  The  concen- 
trated attention,  the  close  observation,  the  ingenuity,  invention, 
and  judgment  in  use  in  art  are  far  superior  as  mental  discipline 
to  any  that  literature  can  give."  1 

The  study  of  science  in  the  new  education  involves  both 
new  materials  and  new  methods.  The  unfruitfulness  of  all 
attempts  to  teach  a  child  science,  in  which  at  first  there  should 
be  no  such  thing  as  authority,  from  a  book,  as  would  be  the 


Morley  claims  that  not  only  the  form,  but  the  substance  of  history,  politics, 
psychology,  ethics,  art,  and  religion  belong  to  literature. 

When  we  consider  the  number  and  importance  of  the  demonstrable  facts  there 
are  in  politics,  psychology,  ethics,  art,  and  religion,  we  shall  realize  how  far  these 
enthusiastic  literateurs  differ  in  denning  their  domains. 

1  Prof.  Bain  says,  "  The  impression  made  on  the  mind  by  the  actual  objects,  as 
seen,  handled,  and  operated  upon,  is  far  beyond  the  efficacy  of  words  or  descrip- 
tion." Sir  Philip  Magnus  thus  speaks  of  the  pupils  of  Finsbury  College  who 
entered  on  an  examination  chiefly  literary:  "Great  difficulty  has  been  experi- 
enced in  getting  students  to  properly  observe  and  interpret  the  results  of  their 
experiments;  and  it  has  been  only  too  apparent  that  their  previous  education  has 
done  little  to  develop  their  reasoning  powers." 

In  a  lecture  delivered  before  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great  Britain,  Canon 
Farrar,  the  distinguished  author  and  philologist,  a  master  of  Harrow,  and  for 
thirteen  years  a  classical  teacher,  thus  avows  "  his  deliberate  opinion,  arrived  at 
in  the  teeth  of  the  strongest  possible  bias  and  prejudice  in  the  opposite  direction, 
—  arrived  at  with  the  fullest  possible  knowledge  of  every  single  argument  which 
may  be  urged  on  the  other  side,"  —  "I  must  avow  my  distinct  conviction  that 
our  present  system  of  exclusively  classical  education,  as  a  whole,  and  carried  on 
as  we  do  carry  it  on,  is  a  deplorable  failure.  I  say  it  knowing  that  the  words  are 
strong  words,  but  not  without  having  considered  them  well;  I  say  it  because  that 
system  has  been  '  weighed  in  the  balance  and  found  wanting.'  It  is  no  epigram, 
but  a  simple  fact,  to  say  that  classical  education  neglects  all  the  powers  of  some 
minds,  and  some  of  the  powers  of  all  minds."  He  regrets  especially  the  "  dead- 
ening" effect  on  the  sensibilities  of  burdening  the  memory  with  unmeaning  and 
useless  words. 


220  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.        [Chap.  IX. 

case  for  a  language  where  authority  is  every  thing,  has  pro- 
duced a  revolution  in  science  teaching.  But  the  science  labo- 
ratory is  a  workshop  as  well,  and  success  there  depends  in  part 
upon  manual  skill  in  the  use  of  tools,  in  mechanical  processes, 
and  in  the  graphic  arts.  Moreover,  we  believe  that  healthy 
growth  is  always  pleasurable,  whether  of  mind  or  body.  We 
believe  that  it  is  no  more  necessary  to  give  the  mind  disa- 
greeable, wearisome,  unintelligible  exercises,  than  it  is  to  give 
the  body  disgusting,  ill-assorted,  indigestible  food.  Did  you 
ever  see  children  so  weary  of  books  that  study  was  impossible  ? 
Did  you  ever  see  one  whose  mind  was  nauseated  with  spelling- 
books,  lexicons,  and  grammars,  and  an  endless  hash  of  words 
and  definitions  ?  And  did  you,  in  such  a  case,  call  in  the  two 
doctors,  Johann  Pestalozzi  and  Friedrich  Froebel?  And  did 
you  watch  the  magic  influence  of  a  diet  of  things  prescribed  by 
the  former  in  the  place  of  words,  and  a  little  vigorous  practice 
in  doing,  in  the  place  of  talking,  under  the  direction  of  the 
latter  ? 

When  the  limit  of  sharp  attention  and  lively  interest  is 
reached,  you  have  reached  the  limit  of  profitable  study.  If  you 
can  hold  the  attention  of  a  class  but  ten  minutes,  it  is  worse 
than  a  waste  of  time  to  make  the  exercise  fifteen.  The  weary 
intellects  will  roll  themselves  up  in  self-defence,  and  suffer  as 
patiently  as  they  can;  but  the  memory  of  those  moments  of 
torture  lingers  and  throws  its  dreadful  shadow  over  the  exer- 
cise as  it  comes  up  again  on  the  morrow.  And  how  automati- 
cally, as  these  over-taught  children  take  their  places  again,  do 
they  roll  themselves  up  into  an  attitude  of  mental  stupidity  ! 
Intellectual  growth  is  not  to  be  gauged  by  the  length  or  num- 
ber of  the  daily  recitations.  I  firmly  believe  that  in  most  of 
our  schools  there  is  too  much  sameness  and  monotony,  too 
much  intellectual  weariness  and  consequent  torpor. 

A  moment's  reflection  will  convince  you  that  the  ordinary 
secondary  school,  whether  high  school  or  academy,  does  not 
meet  the  general  want  of  thirteen-  and  fifteen-year-old  boys. 
The  curriculum  of  studies  is  laid  out  for  that  very  limited  class 
of  pupils  who  are  destined,  or  self-selected  without  intelligent 
choice,  for  literary  or  professional  life.  With  all  that  work  I 


Chap,  IX,]  TRAINING   IS  MORE   THAN  MEMORY.  221 

have  no  wish  to  interfere.  I  would  even  raise  all  professional 
and  literary  standards.  I  would  incorporate  with  their  study 
of  classics  and  mathematics  and  authoritative  science  such  a 
manual  training  as  would  make  them  better  literary  and  pro- 
fessional men. 

MUCH   MORE  THAN   MEMORY. 

But  I  would  do  much  more.  I  would  make  school  attractive 
and  indispensable  to  a  large  class  of  boys,  whose  controlling 
interests  are  not  in  the  study  of  words,  the  forms  of  speech,  or 
the  boundless  mass  of  information  which  is  given  in  books ; 
and  I  would  give  such  boys  a  fair  chance  of  adequate  develop- 
ment. Such  boys  are  not  necessarily  blockheads,  nor  even  dull. 
Their  intellectual  powers  may  be  strong,  though  their  strength 
lies  not  in  the  direction  of  memory.  The  claims  of  this  class 
of  boys  have  been  set  forth  by  no  one  so  eloquently  as  by  Gen. 
Francis  A.  Walker.  Says  he,  and  I  give  almost  his  exact 
words  :  "  There  is  now  no  place,  or  only  a  most  uncomfortable 
one,  for  those  boys  who  are  strong  in  perception,  apt  in  manipu- 
lation, and  correct  in  the  interpretation  of  phenomena,  but  who 
are  not  good  at  memorizing,  or  rehearsing  the  opinions  and 
statements  of  others  ;  or  who,  by  their  diffidence  or  slowness  of 
speech,  are  unfitted  for  ordinary  intellectual  gymnastics.  These 
boys  are  quite  as  numerous  as  the  other  sort,  and  are  quite  as 
deserving  of  sympathy  and  respect,  beside  being  rather  better 
qualified  to  become  of  use  in  the  industrial  and  social  order. 
And  yet  for  this  class  of  boys  the  school  offers  almost  nothing 
upon  which  they  can  employ  their  priceless  powers.  They 
may,  by  laboring  very  painfully  over  the  prescribed  but  uncon- 
genial exercises,  escape  the  stigma  of  being  blockheads ;  but 
they  can  never  do  very  well  in  them.  They  will  always  appear 
to  disadvantage  when  compared  with  the  boys  with  good  memo- 
ries for  words,  whose  mental  and  moral  natures  accept  with 
pleasure  or  without  serious  question  the  statements  and  conclu- 
sions of  others.  Such  boys  are  practically  plowed  under  in 
our  schools,  as  not  worth  harvesting.  And  yet  it  not  infre- 
quently happens  that  the  boy  who  is  regarded  as  dull  because 
he  cannot  master  an  artificial  system  of  grammatical  analysis, 


222  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.         [chap.  IX. 

isn't  worth  a  cent  for  giving  a  list  of  the  kings  of  England, 
who  doesn't  know  and  doesn't  care  what  are  the  principal  pro- 
ductions of  Borneo,  —  has  a  better  pair  of  eyes,  a  better  pair  of 
hands,  a  better  judgment,  and,  even  by  the  standards  of  the 
merchant,  the  manufacturer,  and  the  railroad  president,  a  better 
head,  than  his  master." 

Now  the  manual  training  school  proposes  to  cultivate  and 

HARVEST   BOTH   KINDS   OF   BOYS. 

As  Col.  Jacobson  says,  "Manual  training  means  not  fewer, 
but  more,  ladies  and  gentlemen  to  the  acre." 

There  comes  a  time  in  the  life  of  every  boy  when  he  craves 
with  an  irresistible  appetite  what  may  be  called  food  for  his 
physical  nature ;  when  the  senses  are  most  acute ;  when  he  is 
exquisitely  conscious  of  his  growing  strength,  his  increasing 
power  over  the  external  world;  when  his  budding  manhood 
opens  the  door  into  the  great  workshop  of  Nature,  and  he  is 
satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  actual  contact  with  concrete 
forms  and  tangible  forces. 

At  this  period  the  records  of  the  past  have  little  interest  for 
a  healthy  boy.  He  must  feel  and  act  for  himself ;  he  must  turn 
the  key  with  his  own  hands,  and  himself  unbar  the  gates.  He 
has  no  natural  appetite  to  destroy ;  he  destroys  because  he 
can  not  create.  He  can  destroy  without  being  taught  how  ; 
but  how  to  build,  how  to  construct,  how  to  execute,  —  these 
require  instruction,  training,  system,  and  they  yield  the  keener 
pleasure. 

The  boy  demands  reasons ;  and  arbitrary,  unmeaning  rules 
are  extremely  distasteful.  Until  he  has  a  basis  of  personal 
physical  experience  with  which  he  may  digest  the  experience  of 
others,  books  have  little  meaning  and  are  of  little  value. 

Then  is  the  time  to  give  him  manual  training.  Give  him  his 
saw,  plane,  and  chisel.  Give  him  his  lathe,  his  forge,  and  anvil. 
Give  him  his  blow-pipe  and  crucible,  his  magnet  and  his  engine, 
and  teach  him  their  logic  and  their  power.  His  mind  will 
absorb  them  all  with  infinite  relish.  In  their  forms  and  uses 
he  will  read  the  thoughts  of  men  for  many  generations. 

Do  not  be  anxious  lest  he  have  no  opportunity  to  develop 


Chap.  IX. J          THE   CRAVINGS   OF  A   HEALTHY  BOY.  223 

literary  taste.  There  is  not  a  single  influence  flowing  from 
manual  training  which  is  hostile  to  good  books.  Our  graduates 
are  hungry  for  good  books,  and  they  profit  by  them. 

Hence,  if  we  abridge,  in  some  cases,  the  hours  given  to  books 
and  the  time  wasted  in  idleness,  and  introduce  exercises  of  a 
widely  different  character,  the  result  is  a  positive  intellectual 
gain.  There  is  plenty  of  time  if  you  will  but  use  it  aright. 
The  students  of  a  well-conducted  manual  training  school  are 
intellectually  as  active  and  vigorous  as  in  any  high  school. 
Nay,  more,  I  claim  —  and  I  have  had  good  opportunity  to  ob- 
serve the  facts  —  that  even  on  the  intellectual  side  the  manual 
training  boy  has  a  decided  advantage.  I  have  been  in  charge 
of  both  kinds  of  schools,  and  I  know  whereof  I  speak.  The 
education  of  the  hand  is  the  means  of  more  completely  and 
efficaciously  educating  the  brain. 

INTELLECTUAL   VALUE. 

Manual  exercises,  which  are  at  the  same  time  intellectual 
exercises,  are  highly  attractive  to  healthy  boys.  If  you  doubt 
this,  go  into  the  shops  of  a  manual  training  school  and  see  for 
yourselves.  Go,  for  instance,  into  our  forging-shop,  where 
metals  are  wrought  through  the  agency  of  heat.  A  score  of 
young  Vulcans,  bare-armed,  leather-aproned,  with  many  a  drop 
of  honest  sweat,  stand  up  to  their  anvils  with  an  unconscious 
earnestness  which  shows  how  much  they  enjoy  their  work. 
What  are  they  doing  ?  They  are  using  brains  and  hands. 
They  are  studying  definitions  in  the  only  dictionary  which 
really  defines.  Where  else  can  they  learn  the  meaning  of  such 
words  as  "iron,"  "steel,"  "welding,"  "tempering,"  "upset- 
ting," "chilling,"  etc.?  And  in  the  shop  where  metals  are 
wrought  cold  (which,  for  want  of  a  better  name,  we  call  our 
machine-shop),  every  new  exercise  is  like  a  delightful  trip  into 
a  new  field  of  thought  and  investigation.  Every  exercise,  if 
properly  conducted,  is  both  mental  and  manual.  Every  tool 
used,  and  every  process  followed,  has  its  history,  its  genesis,  its 
evolution.  Says  Supt.  Seaver  of  Boston :  "  Manual  training 
is  essential  to  the  right  and  full  development  of  the  human 
mind,  and  therefore  no  less  beneficial  to  those  who  are  not 


224  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.         [Chap,  IX. 

going  to  become  artisans  than  to  those  who  are.  The  workshop 
method  of  instruction  is  of  great  educational  value,  for  it  brings 
the  learner  face  to  face  with  the  facts  of  nature ;  his  mind  in- 
creases in  knowledge  by  direct  personal  experience  with  forms 
of  matter,  and  manifestations  of  force.  No  mere  words  inter- 
vene. The  manual  exercises  of  the  shop  train  mental  power, 
rather  than  load  the  memory  ;  they  fill  the  mind  with  the  solid 
merchandise  of  knowledge,  and  not  with  its  empty  packing-cases." 

Supt.  Dowd,  of  the'  Toledo  public  schools,  says :  "  It  is  cer- 
tainly true  that  the  training  of  the  manual  training  school  lets 
in  a  flood  of  light  upon  a  thousand  things  but  imperfectly 
understood  before." 

Manual  dexterity  is  but  the  evidence  of  a  certain  kind  of 
mental  power.  Certain  intellectual  faculties,  such  as  observa- 
tion and  judgment  in  inductive  reasoning,  can  not  be  properly 
trained  except  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  hand.  The 
proverbial  caution  of  the  practical  manipulator,  and  his  distrust 
of  mere  theory,  —  which  means  reasoning  based  on  assumed, 
not  real,  facts,  —  show  how  unsafe  is  reasoning  not  founded  on 
the  closest  observation  and  intimate  knowledge  of  the  facts  of 
nature. 

A  manual  training  school  does  not  stop  with  the  training  of 
the  hand.  Physical  dexterity  is  but  one,  and  the  very  least, 
of  the  many  things  sought ;  and  this  is  sought  more  as  a  means 
than  as  an  end.  The  great  end  is  education, — the  develop- 
ment of  the  mind  and  body,  the  simultaneous  culture  of  the 
intellectual,  physical,  and  moral  faculties.  We  believe  in  the 
study  of 

THINGS   FIRST,    THEIR  SYMBOLS    SECOND. 

I  am  almost  ready  to  say,  "  Confusion  to  the  memory  of  Sam 
Johnson  !  "  for,  since  he  started  the  fashion  of  making  dictiona- 
ries, pupils  have  been  set  to  learn  about  substances,  products, 
and  processes  from  dictionaries  rather  than  from  things  them- 
selves. 

The  first  step  of  the  new  education  was  the  introduction  of 
explanatory  pictures  and  diagrams  in  the  books  studied  and 
read.  This  was  a  great  gain,  and  many  of  our  illustrated  text- 


Chap,  IX,]  THE  LABORATORY   METHOD.  225 

books  are  to-day  marvels  of  excellence.  As  books,  they  leave 
little  to  be  desired.  But,  neither  alone  nor  with  pictures,  can 
words  supply  the  want  of  things  themselves.  Next  came  the 
introduction  of  apparatus  and  models  which  the  teacher  could 
handle  and  show  to  his  pupils,  and  sometimes,  if  he  knew  how, 
could  use  before  them.  The  lecture  method  was  another  im- 
portant gain,  and  it  has  accomplished  much  good.  The  diffi- 
culties attending  it,  however,  have  been  such  as  to  prevent  its 
general  adoption,  and  its  use  has  been  limited  to  schools  of 
high  grade. 

The  next  step,  and  the  one  we  are  now  taking,  is  the  adop- 
tion of 

THE   LABORATORY, 

the  putting  of  things,  materials,  apparatus,  tools,  and  machines 
into  the  hands  of  the  pupils  themselves,  and  giving  them  a  con- 
scious knowledge  of  properties,  relations,  arid  processes.1  This 
is  the  crowning  feature  in  education.  It  is  manifest  on  the  one 
side  in  the  kindergarten  ;  on  the  other,  in  the  physical,  chemical, 
and  dynamic  laboratories ;  while  between  the  two  come  the 
shops  and  laboratories  and  drawing  rooms  of  the  manual  train- 
ing school.  In  this  last-named  school  we  strive  to  get  the  benefit 
of  all  'the  progress  made.  We  aim  to  have  the  best  text-books, 
the  best  illustrations,  the  best  apparatus,  the  best  shop  and  tools, 
and  the  best  teachers.2 

1  As  Mr.  Fiske  says  in  his  Destiny  of  Man  (chap,  vii.) :  "In  a  very  deep  sense 
all  human  science  is  but  the  increment  of  the  power  of  the  eye,  and  all  human 
art  is  the  increment  of  the  power  of  the  hand.    Vision  and  manipulation  —  these, 
in  their  countless  and  transfigured  forms,  are  the  two  co-operating  factors  in  all 
intellectual  progress." 

2  "  The  old  method  [of  education]  occupied  itself  mainly  with  the  study  of 
language;  the  new  method  passed  beyond  language  to  the  study  of  the  actual 
phenomena  of  nature.    The  old  method  has  for  its  end  lingual  accomplishments; 
the  new  method,  a  real  knowledge  of  the  characters  and  relations  of  natural 
things.    The  old  method  trains  the  verbal  memory,  and  the  reason,  so  far  as  it 
is  exercised  in  transposing  thought  from  one  form  of  expression  to  another;  the 
new  method  cultivates  the  powers  of  observation  and  the  faculty  of  reasoning 
upon  the  objects  of  experience,  so  as  to  educate  the  judgment  in  dealing  with  the 
problems  of  life.    The  old  method  left  uncultivated  whole  tracts  of  the  mind  that 
are  of  supreme  importance  in  gaining  a  knowledge  of  the  actual  properties  and 
principles  of  things  which  are  fundamental  in  our  progressive  civilization;  the 
new  method  begins  with  the  systematic  cultivation  of  these  neglected  mental 
powers."  —  DR.  E.  L.  YOUMANS  in  Popular  Science  Monthly,  1883. 


226  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.         [Chap,  IX. 

Milton  recognized  but  five  professions  open  to  educated 
youth ;  viz.,  those  of  the  theologian,  the  lawyer,  the  statesman, 
the  soldier,  and  the  gentleman,  —  the  last  being  defined  by  him 
as  one  uwho  retires  himself  to  the  enjoyments  of  ease  and 
luxury."  On  the  other  hand,  J.  Scott  Russell,  one  of  the  first 
of  England's  educated  and  practical  men,  enumerates  in  his 
plan  of  an  English  technical  university,  after  excluding  the- 
ology, law,  and  medicine,  twenty-two  modern  professions,  for 
which,  in  some  way,  education  is  to  be  provided. 

MODERN   PROFESSIONS. 

It  was  formerly  supposed  that  the  manufacturer,  the  miner, 
the  builder  of  houses  or  bridges  or  ships,  the  millwright,  the 
farmer,  the  man  of  commerce,  etc.,  needed  no  education  beyond 
that  gained  by  actual  work  at  his  trade  or  desk.  Now,  how- 
ever, such  strides  have  been  taken  in  all  these  callings,  through 
the  application  of  the  principles  of  modern  science,  that  none 
but  carefully  trained  and  educated  men  can  expect  to  secure 
and  keep  places  of  honor  and  profit  in  them. 

Now,  without  neglecting  to  train  our  lawyers,  engineers,  and 
physicians,  literary  men  and  gentlemen  of  leisure,  should  we 
not  at  least  as  directly  aim  to  train  these  other  men  for  their 
work? 

We  want  an  education  that  shall  develop  the  whole  man. 
All  his  intellectual,  moral,  and  physical  powers  should  be  drawn 
out,  and  trained  and  fitted  for  doing  good  service  in  the  battle 
of  life.  We  want 

WISE   HEADS   AND   SKILLFUL   HANDS. 

There  has  been  a  growing  demand,  not  only  for  men  of 
knowledge,  but  for  men  of  skill,  in  every  department  of  human 
activity.  Have  our  schools  and  colleges  and  universities  been 
equal  to  the  demand  ?  Are  we  satisfied  with  what  they  have 
produced  ? 

There  is  a  wide  conviction  of  the  inutility  of  schooling  for 
the  great  mass  of  children  beyond  the  primary  grades,  and  this 
conviction  is  not  limited  to  any  class  or  grade  of  intelligence. 
According  to  the  report  of  the  president  of  the  Chicago  school 


Chap.  IX.]  WISE  HEADS   AND    SKILLFUL   HANDS.  227 

board,  about  one  and  one-eighth  per  cent  of  the  boys  in  the 
public  schools  are  in  the  high  schools.  From  his  figures  it 
appears,  that,  if  every  boy  in  the  Chicago  public  schools  should 
extend  his  schooling  through  a  high  school,  the  four  classes  of 
the  high  schools  would  contain  some  nine  thousand  boys ;  in 
point  of  fact,  they  have  about  four  hundred.  Has  the  school 
board  of  Chicago  done  its  full  duty  to  the  eighty-six  hundred 
boys  who  are  old  enough  to  be  in  the  high  schools,  and  yet  are 
not  there  ? 

If  a  manual  training  school  could  draw  in  four  hundred  more 
of  them,  would  it  not  be  worth  the  doing  ?  I  think  it  would 
a  hundred  times  over. 

From  the  observed  influence  of  manual  training  upon  boys, 
arid  indirectly  upon  the  parents,  I  am  led  to  claim,  that,  when 
the  last  year  of  the  grammar  and  the  high  schools  includes 
manual  training,  they  will  meet  a  wider  demand  ;  that  the 
education  they  afford  will  be  really  more  valuable,  and  conse- 
quently that  the  attendance  of  boys  will  be  more  than  doubled. 
Add  the  manual  elements  with  their  freshness  and  variety,  their 
delightful  shop  exercise,  their  healthy  intellectual  and  moral 
atmosphere,  and  the  living  reality  of  their  work,  and  the  boys 
will  stay  in  school.  Such  a  result  would  be  an  unmixed  good. 
I  have  seen  boys  doing  well  in  a  manual  training  school,  who 
could  not  have  been  forced  to  attend  an  ordinary  school. 

I  well  know  how  firmly  fixed  is  the  present  curriculum  of 
study  in  the  secondary  schools,  by  how  many  traditions  it  is 
supported,  and  how  unfamiliar  and  strange  the  manual  elements 
appear  to  our  present  corps  of  teachers. 

But  let  me  assure  them  that  the  manual  exercises  are  in  no 
way  demoralizing.  Every  shop  and  drawing  room,  like  every 
other  laboratory,  is  a  part  of  the  school.  Boys  go  from  mathe- 
matics to  shop,  and  from  shop  to  Latin  or  English,  as  naturally 
as  from  mathematics  direct  to  Latin.  Shop- work  is  not  play, 
though  nineteen  out  of  twenty  boys  enjoy  it  as  heartily.  All 
the  work  is  logically  arranged,  and  simultaneous  class  exercises 
are  rigidly  insisted  on.  The  difficulties  of  keeping  a  class 
together  are  no  greater  than  they  are  in  physics  and  chemistry. 

Some  of  the  things  said  about  us  are  marked  by  a  great  lack 


228  A    FEATURE  IN   GENERAL    EDUCATION.         [chap.  IX, 

of  appreciation  of  our  methods  and  results.  For  instance,  an 
Illinois  professor  said,  a  few  years  ago,  that  hammering  wood 
was  such  a  different  matter  from  hammering  iron,  that  not  only 
was  skill  in  one  branch  of  no  value  in  the  other,  but  that  it 
was  a  positive  hinderance.  At  once  the  argument  was  caught 
up  by  the  opponents  of  manual  training,  and  we  were  enter- 
tained by  learned  discussions  of  the  various  arts  of  hammering 
by  those  who  really  knew  nothing  about  them.  It  is  as  though 
one  should  insist  that  a  knowledge  of  French  is  a  hinderance  to 
the  learning  of  Spanish,  or  a  knowledge  of  Latin  an  obstacle 
to  the  mastery  of  Greek.  It  is  asserted  that  there  can  be  no 
such  thing  as  a  general  training  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  they 
point  to  the  cramped  muscles  and  unintelligent  automatonism 
of  a  man,  who  for  years  has  headed  pins  or  stamped  small 
pieces  of  tin,  as  exhibiting  the  baneful  effects  of  manual  train- 
ing !  Is  it  possible  that  such  people  know  what  we  mean  by 
manual  training  ? 

THE   HABIT   OF   THINKING. 

Can  they  be  aware  that,  in  no  American  manual  training 
school  (and  there  are  no  such  schools  in  France  or  Germany  or 
Russia),  is  the  number  of  hours  devoted  to  the  entire  series  of 
wood-working  tools  over  four  hundred  ?  that  the  stage  of  me- 
chanical habit  is  never  reached  ?  that  the  only  habit  actually 
acquired  is  that  of  thinking  ?  that  no  blow  is  struck,  no  line 
drawn,  no  motion  regulated,  from  muscular  habit?  that  the 
quality  of  every  act  springs  from  the  conscious  will  accom- 
panied by  a  definite  act  of  judgment?  Can  such  a  limited 
training  produce  a  high  degree  of  manual  skill  ?  Of  course 
not.  We  have  distinctly  stated  that  our  pupils  do  not  become 
skilled  mechanics,  nor  do  we  teach  them  the  full  details  of  a 
single  trade.  The  tools  whose  theory,  care,  and  use  we  teach 
are  representative ;  and  the  processes,  which  we  teach  just  far 
enough  to  make  every  step  clear  and  experimentally  under- 
stood, equally  underlie  a  score  of  trades.  I  say  experimentally 
understood ;  by  which  I  mean  that  it  is  not  enough  to  know 
that  a  certain  outline  is  to  be  produced,  or  a  certain  adaptation 
is  to  be  secured,  but  one  must  know  just  the  force  to  be 


Chap.  IX.]  OBJECT  OF  MANUAL    TRAINING.  229 

directed,  just  the  motions  needed,  and  in  their  order,  and  all 
as  the  result  of  the  closest  attention  and  steady  intellectual 
activity. 

What,  then,  is  this  so-called  manual  training  but  continuous 
mental  discipline  ?  I  have  already  spoken  of  the  mental  effect 
of  science  study.  I  claim  equally  beneficial  effects  for  the 
thoughtful  study  of  the  theory  and  use  of  the  tools  which  are 
the  product  of  ages  of  human  experience. 

OBJECT   OF  MANUAL  TRAINING. 

The  object  of  the  introduction  of  manual  training  is  not  to 
make  mechanics.  I  have  said  that  many  times,  and  I  find  con- 
tinual need  of  repeating  the  statement.  We  teach  banking, 
not  because  we  expect  our  pupils  to  become  bankers ;  and  we 
teach  drawing,  not  because  we  expect  to  train  architects  or 
artists  or  engineers ;  and  we  teach  the  use  of  tools,  the  prop- 
erties of  materials,  and  the  methods  of  the  arts,  not  because 
we  expect  our  boys  to  become  artisans.  We  teach  them  the 
United  States  Constitution  and  some  of  the  Acts  of  Congress, 
not  because  we  expect  them  all  to  become  congressmen.  But 
we  do  expect  that  our  boys  will  at  least  have  something  to  do 
with  bankers,  and  architects,  and  artists,  and  engineers,  and 
artisans  ;  and  we  expect  all  to  become  good  citizens.  Our  great 
object  is  educational :  other  objects  are  secondary.  That  indus- 
trial results  will  surely  follow,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt ;  but 
they  will  take  care  of  themselves.  Just  as  a  love  for  the  beau- 
tiful follows  a  love  for  the  true,  and  as  the  high  arts  can  not 
thrive  except  on  the  firm  foundation  of  the  low  ones,  so  a  higher 
and  finer  development  of  all  industrial  standards  is  sure  to 
follow  a  rational  study  of  the  underlying  principles  and  meth- 
ods. Every  object  of  attention  put  into  the  schoolroom  should 
be  put  there  for  two  reasons,  —  one  educational,  the  other 
economic.  Training,  culture,  skill,  come  first ;  knowledge  about 
persons,  things,  places,  customs,  tools,  methods,  comes  second. 
It  is  only  by  securing  both  objects  that  the  pupil  gains  the  V* 
great  prize,  which  is  power  to  deal  successfully  with  the  men, 
things,  and  activities  which  surround  him. 


230  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.         [Chap,  IX, 


THE   ECONOMIC    VALUE. 

Now,  one  word  more  on  the  secondary  object,  the  economic. 
Some  have  not  only  failed  to  recognize  the  great  educational 
value  of  manual  training,  but  they  have,  as  it  seems  to  me, 
taken  a  too  narrow  view  of  its  economic  bearing.  For  instance, 
in  analyzing  the  economic  value  of  our  shop-work  and  drawing, 
Dr.  Harris  does  not  appear  to  think  them  of  value  to  the  farmer. 
Remember,  it  is  not  proposed  to  substitute  manual  training  for 
any  of  the  schooling  the  farmer's  boy  now  receives.  I  cheer- 
fully grant  that  all  he  gets  is  of  value.  I  say,  add  the  manual 
training  to  his  present  curriculum.  Will  lie  not  be  the  better 
farmer?  Will  it  be  of  value  to  him  to  know  how  to  repair  a 
window,  to  hang  a  door,  to  plan  and  frame  and  erect  a  barn,  to 
mend  his  plow  or  harrow,  to  supply  a  bolt  or  nut  or  a  miss- 
ing link  on  his  reaper  or  mowing-machine,  or  to  keep  in  order 
a  windmill  or  a  farm-wagon?  You  will  surely  agree  with  me, 
that,  to  be  successful,  a  farmer  must  join  the  skillful  hand  to 
the  cultured  mind.  I  could  tell  you  of  many  instances  in 
which  my  own  graduates  have  astonished  the  natives  by  step- 
ping forward  on  an  Illinois  farm,  in  the  presence  of  half  a 
score  of  able-bodied  men,  and  speedily  mending  a  break  which 
had  threatened  to  entail  a  half-day's  idleness  for  the  whole 
force. 

I  recently  heard  of  a  successful  dentist  in  New  York,  who 
attributed  his  success  to  the  training  he  had  received  when  a 
boy  in  a  general  repair-shop.  Again,  a  noted  surgeon  says  that 
his  ability  to  make  his  own  tools  was  the  basis  of  his  success. 
A  graduate  of  mine  went  into  a  factory  for  turning  corn-cob 
pipes  and  stems,  in  Washington,  Mo.  In  a  few  days  he  ranked 
with  any  of  the  fifty  men  in  the  shop.  Then  he  saw  a  possible 
improvement  in  the  tools  to  be  used.  With  a  new  tool,  which 
he  made  himself,  he  was  able  soon  to  about  double  his  pro- 
ductive power. 

The  habit  of  working  on  an  exact  plan,  of  analyzing  an 
apparently  complicated  operation  into  a  series  of  simple  steps, 
enables  one  to  solve  many  a  new  problem,  even  with  new  mate- 
rial and  under  entirelv  novel  circumstances. 


Chap,  IX,]  INTELLECTUAL   HONESTY.  231 

THE   MORAL   INFLUENCE. 

A  word  in  regard  to  the  moral  effect  of  our  combination. 
Its  influence  is  wholesome  in  three  ways  :  — 

1.  It  stimulates  a  love   for  intellectual  honesty.      It  deals 
with  the  substance,  as  well  as  with  the  shadow  ;  it  gives  oppor- 
tunity for  primitive  judgments ;  it  shows  in  the  concrete,  in  the 
most  unmistakable  form,  the  vast  difference  between  right  and 
wrong ;  it  substitutes  personal  experience  and  the  use  of  simple, 
forcible  language,  for  the  experience  of  others  expressed  in  high- 
sounding  phrase.     It  associates  the  deed  with  the  thought,  the 
real  with   the  ideal,  and   lays  the  foundation  for  honesty  in 
thought  and  in  act. 

2.  The  good  moral  effect  of  occupation  is  most  marked.     No 
boys  were  ever  so   busy  as   ours,  in  school  and  out.     Every 
strong,  healthy  appetite  finds  its  appropriate  food.     The  variety 
of  the  daily  program,  far  from  confusing,  produces  a  balance 
of  healthy  interests ;  and   not   only  the  boy's   time,  but   his 
thoughts,  are  devoted  to  the  work  of  the  school.     The  corre- 
lation of  drawing  and  shop-work  with  science  and  mathematical 
studies  is  exceedingly  helpful  on  both  sides,  and  parents  testify 
to  the  absorption  of  our  pupils  in  their  work.     Mothers  and 
sisters  are  never  tired  of  telling  of  the  great  convenience  of 
having  in  the  house  one  who  has  common  sense  enough  to  use 
the  universal  tools  and  to  keep  things  in  order.     The  hands  are 
rarely  idle  enough  to  allow  the  devil  to  get  in  his  mischievous 
work. 

3.  A  third  moral  benefit  is  self-respect   and   a   respect   for 
honest,  intelligent  labor.     A  boy  who  sees  nothing  in  manual 
labor  but  mere  brute  force  despises  both  the  labor  and   the 
laborer.     To  him  all  hand-work  is  drudgery,  and  all  men  who 
use  their  hands  are  to  him  equally  uncultivated  and  unattrac- 
tive.    With  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  himself  comes  a  pride  in 
its  possession,  and  the  ability  and  willingness  to  recognize  it 
in  his  fellows.     When  once  he  appreciates  skill  in  handicraft  or 
in  any  manual  art,  he  regards  the  possessor  of  it  with  sympathy 
and  respect. 

Without  going  into  the  perplexing  questions  of  labor  and 


232  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.         [Chap,  IX. 

capital,  I  feel  sure  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  such  conflicts 
in  the  future  is  to  properly  train  the  children  of  the  present 
generation.  The  men  who  make  up  mobs  are  deficient  in  either 
mental  or  manual  training,  or  both.  They  never  had  a  chance 
to  get  both  side  by  side  in  a  public  or  private  school. 

DIRECTIVE   WORK. 

But  there  is  a  higher  view  of  even  the  economic  side  of  the 
question.  Mr.  Edward  Carpenter,  speaking  to  the  people  of 
England  of  what  Englishmen  must  do  if  they  are  to  maintain 
their  position  at  the  head  of  the  industrial  world,  thus  refers  to 
what  we  have  called  "  directive  "  power. 

44  Administrative  work  has  to  be  done  in  a  nation  as  well  as 
productive  work ;  but  it  must  be  done  by  men  accustomed  to 
manual  labor,  who  have  the  healthy  decision  and  primitive 
authentic  judgment  which  come  of  that,  else  it  cannot  be  done 
well.  Above  all  things,  have  done  with  this  ancient  sham  of 
fleeing  from  manual  labor,  of  despising,  or  pretending  to 
despise,  it." 

But  some  one  will  tell  me  that  there  is  nothing  new  in 
manual  training,  that  there  have  been  countless  manual  labor 
experiments  in  this  country,  which  have  always  failed,  and  that 
throughout  Europe  industrial  schools  have  been  in  successful 
operation  for  thirty  years.  Now,  those  who  thus  object  do  not 
recognize  essential  differences.  Let  me  clear  up  this  very 
important  matter. 

The  so-called 


have  been  founded  as  semi-charitable  institutions.  They  have 
been  attempts  to  solve  the  problem,  How  shall  a  poor  boy  be 
enabled  to  earn  his  living  and  get  his  education  at  the  same 
time  ?  In  my  judgment  there  is  no  solution  to  that  problem. 
We  ought  at  once  to  recognize  the  fact  that  a  good  education 
costs  money,  and  that  every  time  we  attempt  to  shift  the  burden 
of  support  upon  children  under  seventeen  years  of  age,  we  are 
guilty  of  cruelty  and  neglect.  Of  necessity,  the  form  of  labor 
adopted  in  these  labor  schools  is  that  which  involves  a  minimum 


Chap.  IX.]  NOT  A   MANUAL   LABOR   SCHOOL.  233 

of  training  and  skill  and  a  quick  return.  The  pupils  learn  some 
of  the  elements  of  a  narrow  occupation  ;  but,  on  the  whole,  their 
education,  whether  mental  or  manual,  is  between  very  narrow 
limits.  Such  institutions  have  few  points  in  common  with  a 
manual  training  school. 
As  to  the 

INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOLS 

of  Europe,  we  all  know  they  are  intended  to  foster  certain 
established  industries.  In  a  strictly  "  industrial "  school,  a 
single  industry  is  taught,  and  with  the  definite  and  perfectly 
well  understood  object  of  making  artisans  in  the  industry 
taught.  In  Europe  there  is  no  feeling  against  such  institutions, 
nor  would  there  be  here  in  a  commercial  establishment.  In 
Europe  the  son  of  a  miner  goes  to  the  mines,  as  a  matter  of 
course ;  and  the  son  of  a  weaver  has  generally  no  hope  beyond 
the  loom.  Except  in  rare  instances,  the  child  of  a  European 
laborer  runs  smoothly  in  grooves  cut  for  him  before  he  was 
born. 

In  America  the  case  is  quite  different.  A  public  school 
must  put  no  bar  to  a  boy's  development ;  the  upward  roads  are 
always  to  be  left  open.  A  public  "trade  school"  in  America 
would  be  out  of  place. 

APPRENTICESHIP   SCHOOLS. 

There  are  in  Europe  many  apprenticeship  schools,  which 
are  generally  of  a  higher  grade  than  the  industrial,  and  which 
have  a  somewhat  broader  aim,  though  in  every  case  the  definite 
object  is  to  make  every  boy  who  attends,  no  matter  what  his 
natural  aptitude,  a  skilled,  practical  mechanic.  The  literary 
and  scientific  training  is  in  every  case  very  limited,  and  the 
drawing  is  supposed  to  be  directed  to  the  wants  of  a  single 
craft.  As  is  too  often  the  case  with  us,  it  is  assumed  that  it 
requires  no  great  amount  of  brains  or  intelligence  to  be  a 
mechanic,  and  that  intellectual  culture  is  wasted  on  a  man  who 
finds  employment  for  his  hands.  The  broader  aim  I  spoke  of 
consists  in  furnishing  a  year  of  somewhat  general  training  in 
which  a  boy  may  test  his  liking  for  several  trades,  one  of  which 


234  A    FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.         [Chap.  IX. 

is  to  be  selected  at  the  end  of  the  first  year.  They  have  no 
place  for  one  who  does  not  wish  to  enter  upon  a  special  trade. 
During  a  visit  last  May  to  an  excellent  apprenticeship  school 
in  Paris,  after  visiting  every  shop,  drawing  and  recitation  room, 
and  inspecting  the  daily  program  of  each  section,  I  suggested 
to  the  director  that  I  saw  no  provision  for  one  who  should 
prefer  a  general  course  for  the  entire  three  years.  He  wheeled 
upon  me  with  the  emphatic  reply,  "  This  is  -a  school  to  make 
mechanics.  Every  boy  here  must  be  a  mechanic.  He  must 
earn  his  living  by  his  trade  the  moment  he  leaves  this  school." 

Now,  neither  the  American  manual  labor  school,  nor  the 
European  industrial  school,  nor  the  apprenticeship  school  comes 
very  near  the  manual  training  school.  With  them  either  self- 
support  or  a  trade  is  the  great,  and  nearly  the  sole,  end.  The 
trade  schools  have  a  worthy  endj  and  they  are  successful.  They 
have  greatly  improved  the  grade  of  technical  skill  in  Europe, 
and  they  have  accomplished  much  for  their  industries.  I  have 
no  opposition  to  make  to  them,  but  I  wish  it  to  be  well  under- 
stood that  a  manual  training  school  is  quite  a  different  thing. 
Instead  of  the  two  grand  objects  we  have  in  view,  —  one  gen- 
eral and  educational,  the  other  economic,  —  they  have  but  one, 
the  economic. 

We  do  not  claim  to  teach  trades.  In  our  school  the  manual 
elements  are  subordinated  to  the  intellectual.  One  hour  of 
drawing  and  two  hours  of  shop-work  daily  is  the  maximum 
demand  on  the  manual  side.  On  the  other  side,  there  are  three 
recitation  hours  and  private  study  enough  to  learn  three  lessons. 

TWO   FALLACIES. 

Two  old  fallacies  have  stood  in  our  way,  and  they  stand  yet 
in  many  minds.  One  is  that  all  the  manual  arts,  except  pen- 
manship and  free-hand  drawing,  should  be  learned  at  home  or 
in  connection  with  some  business  establishment.  They  always 
have  been  so  learned,  it  is  urged,  if  learned  at  all ;  and  there  is 
no  good  reason  to  suppose  that  they  can  be  acquired  to  any 
useful  extent  in  any  other  way.  Certainly  they  can  not  be 
taught  in  school. 

There  is  little  need  for  me  to  answer  this  objection.     It  has 


Chap.  IX.]  THE   SCHOOL   IS   NOT  A    FACTORY.  235 

been  answered  in  many  ways.  It  has  been  proved  a  hundred 
times  that  the  logical  methods  of  the  schoolroom  are  as  applicable 
to  the  theory  and  use  of  tools  and  implements  as  to  chemistry 
or  algebra  or  book-keeping,  and  that  no  business  establishment 
is  willing  to  train  a  boy  solely  in  the  boy's  interest.  Superin- 
tendent MacAlister  of  Philadelphia  says  that  needlework  (i.e. 
plain  sewing)  is  more  logically  taught  than  is  arithmetic  in  his 
school.  I  can  say  as  much  for  what  we  teach  at  the  bench,  the 
anvil,  and  the  lathe.  I  have  yet  to  find  one  person  who  has 
looked  closely  into  this  matter,  who  does  not  agree  with  me  in 
this. 

THE    FALLACY  OF   SELF-SUPPORT. 

The  other  fallacy  is,  that  the  moment  one  introduces  manual 
training  he  must  bring  in  the  idea  of  self-support.  The  notion 
is  inherited.  Every  apprentice  boy,  every  counting-house  fag 
was  supposed  to  pay  for  his  training  by  his  labor.  So  every 
stranger  who  looks  in  upon  our  school  asks  what  we  do  with  the 
boys'  work,  and  can  we  not  make  things  to  sell. 

They  forget,  in  the  first  place,  that  one's  first  results  in  a  new 
field,  where  intelligence  is  necessary,  are  always  valueless ;  and, 
in  the  second  place,  that  the  more  an  establishment  is  a  factory, 
the  less  it  is  a  school.  No  attempt  has  ever  been  made,  to  my 
knowledge,  to  make  a  school  of  penmanship,  or  English  com- 
position, or  surgery,  or  medicine,  or  law  self-supporting. 

In  a  manual  training  school,  everything  is  for  the  benefit  of 
the  boy.  He  is  the  only  article  to  be  put  upon  the  market.  We 
can  not  afford  to  turn  out  anything  else.  Time  and  opportunity 
for  growth  are  too  precious.  The  moment  a  class  has  learned 
fairly  well  how  to  make  bolts  and  nuts,  or  to  cut  and  solder  a 
tin  funnel,  the  boys  must  move  on  to  master  some  new  and 
unknown  process,  instead  of  stopping  to  make  bolts  and  funnels 
for  the  market. 

RELATION   TO   CRAFTS. 

Now,  as  to  the  relation  which  our  instruction  bears  to  the 
crafts  in  most  frequent  use.  During  the  total  allowance  of 
three  hundred  and  eighty  hours,  which,  in  the  first  year,  every 
boy  of  the  class  must  devote  to  wood-work,  the  boys  are  learn- 


236  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.        [Chap.  IX, 

ing  some  of  the  preliminary  steps  and  essential  features  of 
several  wood-working  trades.  The  sharpening  of  chisels,  gouges, 
bits,  and  planes ;  the  filing  and  setting  of  saws ;  learning  to 
square  up  and  lay  out  work  with  precision ;  the  cutting  of 
mortises  and  tenons ;  the  details  of  nailing,  glueing,  pinning, 
and  dovetailing ;  various  kinds  of  inside  and  outside  turning, 
chucking,  and  fitting,  etc.,  —  all  these  belong  equally  to  the 
cabinet-maker,  the  chair-maker,  the  pattern-maker,  the  wheel- 
wright, the  house-carpenter,  the  stair-builder,  the  cooper,  the 
car-builder,  the  wood-carver,  and  so  on.  While  thus  learning 
the  intelligent  use  and  care  of  tools  and  materials,  our  boys 
become  very  proficient  in  making  and  using  what  are  called 
"  working  drawings."  This  last  accomplishment  is  essential  to 
intelligent  progress  in  any  trade. 

•  The  training  given  during  the  second  year  of  school  in  the 
forging  shop  is  equally  fundamental  and  equally  broad  in  its 
application.  The  study  of  form  as  related  to  strength  and  econ- 
omy of  material ;  the  operations  of  drawing,  upsetting,  bending, 
punching,  breaking,  welding,  tempering,  braising,  and  soldering 
are  fundamental  in  character,  and  preparatory  to  a  score  of  dis- 
tinct occupations,  the  special  business  and  conventional  details 
of  which  we  do  not  pretend  to  teach. 

Our  machine-shop,  in  which  the  third-year  students  spend 
their  three  hundred  and  eighty  hours  of  shop-time,  is  quite 
appropriately  named.  To  be  sure,  there  are  benches  where 
regular  exercises  in  chipping  and  filing  are  done,  but  the  greater 
part  of  the  attention  is  given  to  the  study,  use,  and  manage- 
ment of  machines.  To  this  end  machines  with  great  range  of 
adjustment,  and  always  requiring  precision  and  the  exercise  of 
forethought  and  good  judgment,  are  employed.  The  materials 
wrought  are  those  of  which  machines  are  generally  made ;  viz., 
iron,  cast  and  wrought,  steel  of  various  grades,  and  brass.  Their 
cutting-tools  the  students  generally  make  for  themselves  at  the 
forge.  We  have  in  all  twenty-one  iron  cutting-machines.  It 
is  no  small  thing  to  be  able  to  use  all  these  machines  intelli- 
gently, not  to  say  skillfully ;  and  in  this  age,  when  many  new 
machines  are  to  be  made,  and  all  sorts  of  machines  are  to  be 
used  in  the  arts,  there  can  be  no  surer  way  than  ours  of  develop- 


Chap,  IX,]  A   NEW  ARTICLE   ON   THE  MARKET.  237 

ing  that  "  directive  power  "  which  is  generally  conceded  to  be 
one  of  the  chief  fruits  of  a  good  education. 

Now,  whether  our  boys  become  mining  or  civil  or  mechanical 
engineers,  farmers  or  mechanics,  merchants,  manufacturers, 
lawyers,  or  statesmen,  it  seems  clear  that  this  training  will  give 
them  additional  power,  both  in  molding  circumstances  and  in 
their  intercourse  with  men,  taught  and  untaught,  skilled  and 
unskilled. 

THE  COST. 

A  single  word  as  to  the  cost.  I  do  not  recommend  manual 
training  because  it  is  cheap,  or  because  it  will  result  in  an  im- 
mediate saving  of  money.  In  the  long  run,  it  will  save  much 
money ;  but  its  establishment  and  maintenance  are  expensive. 
To  begin  with,  a  building  with  schoolrooms  and  desks,  drawing- 
rooms  and  stands,  shops  and  tools,  costs  more  than  one  with 
only  schoolrooms  and  desks.  Our  working  sections  have  from 
twenty  to  twenty-four  students  each,  and  for  each  section  there 
must  be  a  teacher.  In  the  St.  Louis  school,  there  are  two 
hundred  and  thirty  pupils  and  twelve  actual  teachers.  Again, 
the  current  expenses  of  shops  and  laboratories  are  considerable. 
In  my  school,  it  costs  from  five  dollars  to  seven  dollars  per  pupil 
per  year  for  materials.  But  I  strongly  insist  that  the  added 
value  is  worth  the  added  cost,  and  that  no  community  in  which 
a  manual  training  school  has  once  been  well  established  would 
allow  its  expense  to  be  an  argument  against  it. 

EVENLY   TRAINED   BOYS. 

I  have  said  that  the  only  article  we  put  upon  the  market  is 
evenly  trained  boys :  I  now  wish  to  add  that  the  article  is  a  new 
one.  You  can  not  determine  its  value  by  invoicing  the  boys 
who  in  the  past  have  drifted  without  proper  education,  and 
without  intelligent  choice,  into  shops  and  offices.  I  do  not  claim 
that  manual  training  will  change  a  dull  boy  into  a  bright  one,  or 
a  bad  boy  into  a  good  one  ;  but  it  gives  every  dull  boy,  whether 
his  dullness  is  in  the  direction  of  mathematics  or  language  or 
mechanics,  a  chance  to  become  less  dull,  and  the  bright  boy  a 
chance  to  retain  his  brilliancy.  We  have  had  some  bad  boys, 


238  A   FEATURE  IN   GENERAL   EDUCATION.         [Chap,  IX, 

but  I  honestly  think  their  badness  was  less  corrupting  than  it 
would  have  been  among  boys  less  absorbed  in  their  work.  It  is 
not  safe  to  reason,  that,  because  a  boy  can  not  succeed  anywhere 
else,  he  must  succeed  in  the  shop.  Brains  are  as  essential  in 
our  school  as  in  any  school ;  as  requisite  to  a  thoroughly  accom- 
plished mechanic  as  to  a  good  soldier  or  a  good  orator.1 

Doubtless  more  than  half  of  our  boys  will  find  abundant 
uses  for  their  manual  training,  and  they  will  have  a  marked 
advantage  over  the  untrained  boys.  They  are  all  fair  draughts- 
men. They  have  a  wide  acquaintance  with  hand  and  machine 
tools,  and  considerable  skill  in  their  use.  They  have  an  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  the  properties  of  common  materials,  of  the 
marvellous  effects  of  heat,  of  the  nature  and  amount  of  friction. 
Moreover,  they  have  a  fair  command  of  English,  an  excellent 
knowledge  of  elementary  mathematics,  and  are  familiar  with  the 
first  principles  of  natural  science.  They  have  analyzed  mechani- 
cal processes,  and  learned  to  adapt  means  to  ends.  They  have 
some  knowledge  of  our  literature,  and  generally  of  Latin  and 
French  grammars.  Such  boys  will  never  become  mere  machine 
men.  Do  not  associate  them  in  your  thoughts  with  that  class  of 
workmen,  who,  aside  from  the  stock  details  of  a  single  craft,  have 
no  cultivation  whatever.  They  will  never  be  content,  whatever 
the  vocation  to  which  circumstances  and  their  own  fitness  may 
call  them,  to  put  their  brains  away  like  a  piece  of  ornamental 
toggery  for  which  they  have  no  daily  use.  They  have  many 
chances  in  their  favor.  They  have  fast  hold  of  a  ladder,  which, 
with  vigorous  climbing,  will  carry  them  to  the  top. 

HEALTHY   EDUCATION. 

It  almost  goes  without  saying,  that  the  varied  exercises  of  a 
manual  training  school  are  highly  conducive  to  physical  health. 
On  the  intellectual  and  moral  sides,  I  hope  I  have  shown  that 
the  effect  must  always  be  good.  A  training  which  enables  a  boy 
to  make  the  most  of  himself,  in  a  broad  and  high  sense,  must  be 
regarded  as  healthy.  A  manual  training  school  has  many  win- 


1  "  There  can  be  no  greater  fallacy  than  to  imagine  that  any  boy  is  too  good  for 
the  workshop.    Here  is  where  brains  are  wanted."  —  PROF.  RIPPER. 


Chap,  IX.]  A   HEALTHY  EDUCATION.  239 

clows,  and  it  looks  out  upon  a  large  circle  of  human  activities, 
and  the  kindling  light  shines  in  on  every  side.  As  with  its 
windows,  so  with  its  doors :  its  pupils  step  into  the  busy  world 
in  all  directions,  each  choosing  a  career  where  he  may  be  reason- 
ably certain  of  success.  There  are  many  avenues  to  culture  and 
to  success  in  life  :  we  strive  to  keep  them  all  open. 

The  system  I  advocate  sets  up  no  false  standards:  it  does 
not  mistake  mere  bookishness  for  generous  culture ;  it  teaches 
that  neither  the  eye,  nor  the  hand,  nor  the  head  can  dispense 
with  mutual  co-operation  and  aid  ;  it  recognizes  the  actual 
claims  of  our  civilization ;  it  aims  to  elevate,  to  dignify,  to 
liberalize,  all  the  essential  elements  of  society ;  and  it  renders  it 
possible  for  every  honorable  calling  to  be  the  happy  home  of 
cultivation  and  refinement. 


24:0  ORIGIN,    ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING,     [chap,  X, 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    ORIGIN,  AIMS,   METHODS,  AND    DIGNITY    OF 
POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING.1 

MILTON  describes  a  complete  and  liberal  education  to  be 
that  "  which  fits  a  man  to  perform  justly,  skillfully,  and 
magnanimously  all  the  offices,  private  and  public,  both  of  peace 
and  war."  And  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Samuel  Hartlib,  he 
traces  out  a  course  of  study  for  the  "  noble  and  gentle  youth  " 
of  England,  which  he  "  guesses  is  likeliest  to  those  ancient  arid 
famous  schools  of  Pythagoras,  Plato,  Isocrates,  Aristotle,  and 
such  others,  out  of  which  were  bred  such  a  number  of  renowned 
philosophers,  orators,  historians,  poets,  and  princes ;  "  but,  avoid- 
ing the  errors  of  both  Sparta  and  Athens,  of  which  the  former 
trained  her  youth  exclusively  for  war,  the  latter  for  the  gow*n, 
Milton  would  train  them  equally  for  peace  and  for  war.  Ad- 
mirable as  is  his  statement  of  the  object  of  education,  —  and 
it  maybe  accepted  as  sound  for  all  time,  —  Milton  evidentlv 
thinks  his  course  of  study  adapted  to  the  wants  of  only  a  small 
and  select  class,  and  he  is  very  severe  upon  those  who  should 
attempt  his  course  without  carrying  it  well  through.  He  says 
that,  "though  a  linguist  should  pride  himself  to  have  all  the 
tongues  that  Babel  cleft  the  world  into,  yet  if  he  have  not 


1  Address  given  in  the  hall  of  Washington  University,  Oct.  24,  1873.    This 
address  is  inserted  for  three  reasons :  — 

1.  The  dignity  and  general  value  of  polytechnic  training  is  still  a  matter  of 
discussion,  and  the  arguments  presented  seem  to  me  as  timely  as  when  the 
address  was  written,  nearly  fourteen  years  ago. 

2.  It  presents  very  clearly  the  necessity  for  manual  training  on  the  part  of  all 
children,  outside  as  well  as  inside  the  polytechnic  school. 

3.  This  address,  taken  in  connection  with  the  two  chapters  which  follow, 
clearly  shows  how,  little  by  little,  our  ideas  of  manual  training  have  matured 
under  the  discipline  of  actual  experience. 


chap,  x,]  MILTON'S  FIVE  PROFESSIONS.  241 

studied  the  solid,  things  in  them,  as  well  as  words  and  lexicons, 
lie  were  nothing  so  much  to  be  esteemed  a  learned  man  as  any 
yeoman  or  tradesman  competently  wise  in  his  mother  dialect 
only."  Milton's  letter  was  written  some  two  hundred  and 
thirty  years  ago ;  and,  though  his  plan  of  study  may  have  been 
excellently  adapted  to  the  "  noble  and  gentle  youth "  of  his 
day,  it  is  well-nigh  outgrown  and  obsolete  now.  The  great 
storehouse  of  wisdom  is  110  longer  the  ancient,  but  the  modern 
tongues.  Then  he  needs  must  look  across  a  gulf  of  nearly  two 
thousand  years  to  the  golden  ages  of  nations,  now  no  more,  for 
his  model  heroes  and  poets  and  philosophers.  We,  living  in  a 
new  era  of  progress,  find  abundant  use  for  all  our  powers  in 
striving  to  grasp  the  wisdom  and  genius  of  the  present  age. 

Milton  recognized  but  five  professions  open  to  educated 
youth ;  viz.,  those  of  the  theologian,  the  lawyer,  the  statesman, 
the  soldier,  and  the  gentleman,  —  the  last  being  defined  by  him 
as  one  "-who  retires  himself  to  the  enjoyments  of  ease  and 
luxury."  On  the  other  hand,  J.  Scott  Russell,  one  of  the  first 
of  England's  educated  and  practical  men  of  to-day,  enumerates 
in  his  plan  of  an  English  technical  university,  after  excluding 
theology,  law,  and  medicine,  twenty-tivo  modern  professions,  for 
which,  in  some  way,  education  is  to  be  provided. 

It  was  formerly  supposed  that  the  manufacturer,  the  miner, 
the  builder  of  houses  or  bridges  or  ships,  the  millwright,  the 
farmer,  the  man  of  commerce,  etc.,  needed  no  education  beyond 
that  gained  by  actual  work  at  their  trades  or  desks.  Now, 
however,  such  strides  have  been  taken  in  all  these  callings, 
through  the  application  of  the  principles  of  modern  science, 
that  none  but  carefully  trained  and  educated  men  can  expect 
to  secure  and  keep  places  of  honor  and  profit  in  them. 

Referring  to  the  recent  growth  of  scientific  knowledge,  which 
has  been  at  once  the  cause  and  the  consequence  of  the  great 
increase  in  the  number  and  scope  of  the  different  professions, 
Prof.  Helriiholtz  says  in  a  recent  lecture,  "  We  see  scholars  and 
scientific  men  absorbed  in  specialties  of  such  vast  extent,  that 
the  most  universal  genius  can  not  hope  to  master  more  than  a 
small  section  of  our  present  range  of  knowledge."  Philologists, 
in  the  place  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  with  two  or  three 


242  ORIGIN,   ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING,      [ctap.  X, 

European  languages,  aim  now  at  nothing  short  of  an  acquaint- 
ance with  all  the  languages  of  the  human  family.  "  The  zo- 
ologists of  the  past  were  content  to  describe  the  teeth,  hair, 
feet,  and  other  external  characteristics  of  an  animal,  while  the 
anatomist  never  went  beyond  the  human  frame.  To-day  we 
have  added  comparative  anatomy  and  microscopic  anatomy,  both 
of  them  sciences  of  infinitely  wider  range,  which  now  absorb  the 
interest  of  students."  The  four  elements  of  the  ancients  and 
of  mediaeval  alchemy  have  been  increased  to  sixty-four ;  and  so 
far  have  the  methods  of  chemical  analysis  and  synthesis  been 
improved,  that  "what  is  called  organic  chemistry,  which  em- 
braces only  compounds  of  carbon  with  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitro- 
gen, and  a  few  other  elements,  has  already  taken  rank  as  an 
independent  science."  The  one  thousand  catalogued  stars  of 
the  seventeenth  century  have  grown  to  two  hundred  thousand 
in  the  nineteenth ;  while  in  the  department  of  physical  dynam- 
ics, with  the  aid  of  a  higher  mathematical  analysis  which  was 
totally  unknown  to  the  ancients,  a  whole  world  of  knowledge, 
greater  than  any  ancient  Greek  ever  dreamed  of,  lies  fresh 
opened  before  us.  The  contemplation  of  these  things  may  well 
make  us  stand  aghast,  and  exclaim  with  the  chorus  of  Antigone, 
"  Who  can  survey  the  whole  field  of  knowledge  ?  "  The  obvious 
consequence  of  this  vast  extension  of  the  limits  of  science  is 
that  every  student  is  forced  to  choose  a  narrower  and  still 
narrower  field  for  his  own  studies,  and  can  only  keep  up  an 
imperfect  acquaintance  even  with  the  allied  fields  of  research. 

It  is  thus  made  obvious  that  there  must  be  an  election  of  a 
course  of  study  with  each  new  student.  No  one  curriculum 
can  be  suited  to  all.  Our  offices  in  life  will  be  many  and 
diverse ;  and  if  we  would  perform  them  "  justly,  skillfully,  and 
magnanimously,"  we  must  actually  choose  our  courses  of  train- 
ing and  study,  and  of  course  we  shall  choose  them  very  differ- 
ently. The  arts  are  not  one,  but  many ;  and  every  art  is  based 
upon  a  science,  real  or  possible ;  and  every  science  should  have 
place  in  some  course  of  study.  Hence  the  university  of  to-day 
must  teach  and  foster  many  arts ;  in  short,  it  must  be  a 
polytechnic  school. 

I  hope  I  have  thus  made  clear  the  necessity  in  our  generation 


Chap.  X.]  A    NEED    OF  SCHOOLS    OF  MANY  ARTS.  243 

of  polytechnic  schools ;  and  you  will,  perhaps,  be  surprised 
that  we  did  not  have  them  earlier.  But  educational  institu- 
tions are  eminently  conservative  ;  and,  besides,  the  popular  mind 
still  had  faith  in  the  universal  practical  value  of  Milton's 
ancient  school,  long  after  shrewd,  far-seeing  business  men  were 
convinced  of  the  need  of  some  change.  It  required  the 
irresistible  logic  of  facts  to  convince  the  world  that  our  old 
systems  of  education  were,  for  the  most  part,  outgrown.  .  .  . 

GROWTH   OF   EDUCATIONAL  IDEAS. 

But  what  has  been  the  condition  of  things  in  the  United 
States  during  this  growth  of  ideas  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent of  Europe  ?  Certainly  we  have  not  been  idle  or  uncon- 
cerned spectators.  To  a  certain  extent  we  have  been  whipped 
over  England's  back;  and  tho  we  have  always  prided  our- 
selves on  our  enterprise  and  "  smartness  "  as  a  manufacturing 
people,  and  have  glorified  ourselves  not  a  little  over  our  great 
system  of  free  public  schools,  and  on  our  numerous  high  schools 
and  colleges,  we  have  been  forced  at  last,  not  only  to  go  across 
the  Atlantic  for  the  finest  specimens  of  manufactured  articles, 
but  to  look  to  Germany  and  France  for  guidance  in  educational 
matters.  You  know  it  is  not,  in  general,  a  recommendation  to 
say  that  the  goods  we  are  examining  are  of  American  manufac- 
ture, and  that,  as  to  education,  the  school  system  of  Prussia  is 
thought  by  many  to  be  the  best  in  the  world. 

We  have  confessed  again  and  again,  to  each  other,  that  our 
vaunted  school  system  has  not  produced  the  results  we  sought. 
We  aimed  at  one  thing ;  we  have  secured  another.  We  wanted 
an  education  that  should  develop  the  whole  man ;  all  his  intel- 
lectual, moral,  and  physical  powers  should  be  drawn  out,  and 
trained  and  fitted  for  doing  good  service  in  the  battle  of  life. 
We  wanted  wise  heads  and  strong,  skillful  hands.  There  has 
been  a  growing  demand,  not  only  for  men  of  knowledge,  but 
for  men  of  skill,  in  every  department  of  human  activity.  Have 
our  schools  and  colleges  and  universities  been  equal  to  the 
demand  ?  Are  we  satisfied  with  what  they  have  produced  ? 
Or  are  we  compelled  reluctantly  to  admit,  that,  after  filling  to 
overflowing  the  three  traditionally  learned  professions,  they 


244  ORIGIN,    ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING.     [Chap,  X. 

yield  little  else  but  candidates  for  Milton's  class  of  "gentle- 
men," inasmuch  as  they  are  fitted  for  no  kind  of  work,  and 
consequently  must  -spend  their  lives  in  ease  and  enjoyment 
if  it  be  possible  ?  Fortunately,  there  is  no  place  for  them  in 
this  busy  land,  where  every  one  must  be  a  working  factor ;  and 
so  they  are  driven,  later  in  life,  by  sheer  necessity,  to  learn  the 
lesson  which  their  faulty  education  had  failed  to  teach ;  viz., 
the  art  of  being  useful.  Do  you  wonder  that  our  workmen  are 
dissatisfied  and  unskilled,  and  that  our  products  are  third-class  ? 

FAILURE   OF   OUR    SCHOOL   SYSTEM. 

Says  Mr.  H.  K.  Oliver,  in  a  letter  to  the  Boston  Transcript, 
dated  the  fifteenth  day  of  August:  "Our  system  [of  educa- 
tion] trains  boys  not  to  become  better  craftsmen,  but  to  be 
unwilling  to  be  put  to  any  kind  of  craft.  Such  ought  not  to 
be  the  effect  of  education,  understood  in  its  relation  to  our 
people.  But  a  very  small  proportion  can  be  of  the  so-called 
learned  professions,  and  most  of  us  must  be  of  the  productive, 
toiling  class ;  and,  while  the  mind  should  be  justly  cultivated, 
that  the  future  workman  may  be  able  to  read  understandingly, 
to  think  wisely,  and  to  express  his  thoughts  well,  to  keep  his 
business  records,  to  apply  his  knowledge  of  the  science  of  form, 
and  to  be  guided  by  the  forms  of  Christian  morality,  the  main 
business  of  his  coming  life  should  receive  at  least  some  degree 
of  attention.  .  .  .  The  actual  influence  of  our  method  of  edu- 
cation is  to  make  our  youth  in  reality  revolt  from  manual  labor ; 
they  shrink  from  entering  upon  lives  wherein  physical  labor  is 
to  be  their  means  of  living." 

Hence,  as  has  so  often  been  said,  nearly  all  our  skilled  work- 
men are  imported.  Our  best  machinists,  miners,  weavers, 
watchmakers,  iron-workers,  draughtsmen,  and  artisans  of  every 
description  come  from  abroad ;  and  this  is  so,  not  because  our 
native  born  are  deficient  in  natural  tact  or  ability,  nor  because 
they  are,  in  point  of  fact,  above  and  beyond  such  occupations, 
but  because  they  are  really  below  them.  So  long  as  we  endeav- 
ored to  train  up  all  our  youth  to  become  philosophers  or  phi- 
lologists or  doctors  of  something,  those  who  did  not  look  forward 
to  such  careers  saw  little  or  nothing  of  either  pleasure  or  profit 


Chap,  X,]       DOUBTFUL    VALUE   OF  MORE   SCHOOLING.  245 

in  continued  study,  and  so  dropped  out  to  join  the  great  army 
of  those  fitted  for  —  nothing  ! 

OLD   STYLE  EDUCATION   USELESS. 

I  am  speaking  of  admitted  facts.  Three  out  of  four,  if  not 
nine  out  of  ten,  of  the  boys  in  this  city  to-day  are  growing  up 
to  manhood  without  being  specially  trained  for  any  sort  of  trade, 
business,  or  profession.  This  seems  to  me  almost  criminally 
wrong  on  the  part  of  us  who  are  to  any  extent  in  charge  of 
educational  matters.  My  opinion  is  (and,  if  you  will  consider 
it  for  a  moment,  you  will  all  agree  with  me)  that  every  young 
man  (and  perhaps  every  young  woman,  too)  should  receive 
special  theoretical  and  practical  training  in  some  one  respectable 
trade  or  profession.  Why  is  not  this  done  ?  It  is  not  because 
we  have  not  the  means.  St.  Louis  is  wealthy  enough  to  give 
every  one  of  her  children  a  good  intellectual  and  technical 
education,  and  then  she  would  be  wealthier  still.  Whatever 
may  be  the  reason,  the  fact  is,  that  the  education  offered,  beyond 
the  rudiments  and  elementary  studies,  does  not  seem  to  be  just 
what  is  wanted.  It  is  not  attractive  to  pupils,  or  it  is  out  of 
their  reach ;  or  parents  and  business  men  are  of  the  opinion, 
secret,  perhaps,  but  firmly  held,  that  a  higher  education  oftener 
unfits  than  fits  a  man  for  earning  his  living. 

To  be  sure,  statisticians  will  tell  you  to  a  cent  how  much  the 
ability  to  read  and  write  adds  to  the  laborer's  daily  wages ; 
how  much,  the  ability  to  cipher  and  keep  accounts.  Possibly, 
also,  they  will  give  you  the  market  value  of  the  knowledge  of 
elementary  mechanics  and  line-drawing ;  but  you  soon  find  a 
point  where  such  statistics  stop,  and  I  fancy  that  it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  prove  that  there  is  a  point  in  our  secondary  or 
higher  institutions  of  learning  where  the  average  boy's  com- 
mercial value  is  not  enhanced  by  a  continuance  in  the  old  course 

of  study. 

CRITICISMS. 

Perhaps  you  will  think  that  I  am  both  unjust  and  ungener- 
ous in  these  criticisms.  If  my  statements  and  inferences  are 
false,  they  are  certainly  unjust.  If  they  are  true,  generosity 
does  not  require  me  to  shrink  from  their  utterance.  I  know 


246  ORIGIN,    ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING.     [Chap,  X. 

that  the  value  of  an  education  can  not  be  estimated  solely  on  a 
money  basis  ;  but  I  maintain  that  we  have  no  right,  in  a  com- 
munity like  ours,  to  ignore  the  pecuniary  value  of  knowledge 
and  skill.  The  love  of  money  may  be  the  root  of  all  evil ;  but, 
after  all,  money  is  the  most  potent  instrumentality  we  have  of 
practically  doing  good. 

Prest.  Barnard  of  Columbia  College  has  shown  that  the  num- 
ber of  young  men  from  New  England  and  New  York  attend- 
ing the  regular  colleges  has  been  steadily  diminishing  of  late 
years ;  and  Mr.  W.  T.  Harris  of  this  city,  in  a  recently  pub- 
lished article,  assumes,  as  a  generally  admitted  fact,  that  the 
graduates  of  high  schools  less  and  less  seek  the  training  and 
culture  which  a  college  affords.  In  a  time  like  the  present, 
when  the  limits  of  human  knowledge  are  rapidly  receding  on 
all  sides,  how  can  this  important  fact  be  explained,  except  on 
the  ground  that  the  college  only  partially  meets  the  educational 
wants  of  the  time,  and  that  schools  more  in  accord  with  the 
scientific  spirit  of  the  age  are  demanded  ? 

POLYTECHNIC   SCHOOLS. 

I  conclude,  then,  that  our  need  of  polytechnic  schools  has 
been  demonstrated  abroad  and  felt  at  home.  The  reaction 
against  the  old  regime  has  already  begun,  and  we  can  see  the 
revolution  going  on.  In  every  case  of  the  establishment  of  a 
genuine  polytechnic  school  or  department,  new  courses  of  study 
and  instruction  have  been  arranged,  requiring,  when  thorough, 
even  when  in  connection  with  a  college,  the  appointment  of  a 
separate  faculty.  These  courses  of  study  in  general  omitted 
the  classical,  philological,  and  historical  studies  of  the  college 
curriculum ;  retained  a  modern  language  or  two,  English  com- 
position, and  political  economy ;  gave  a  greater  share  of  atten- 
tion to  mathematics  and  the  natural  sciences,  and  added  such 
technical  or  professional  work  as  could  be  crowded  into  courses 
of  study  generally  four  years  in  length.  Thus  the  work  required 
was  fully  equal  in  amount  to  that  in  the  college  course,  but 
differed  from  it  essentially  in  character.  I  will  here  quote  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Worcester  Free  Institute.  He  says  :  "  I 
have  no  intention  of  establishing  here  a  rival  of,  or  a  substitute 


Chap,  X.]  THE  NEEDS    OF   THE  AGE.  247 

for,  the  college.  It  is  specially  designed  to  meet  the  wants  of 
those  who  have  no  desire  for  classical  training,  but  who  wish 
to  be  prepared,  either  as  mechanics,  civil  engineers,  chemists, 
architects,  or  designers,  for  the  duties  of  active  life."  It  may 
be  said,  that,  in  certain  sense,  the  Worcester  Institute  has 
proved  itself  to  be  both  a  formidable  rival  of,  and  substitute 
for,  the  college. 

In  selecting  the  technical  and  professional  work  to  be  done 
by  the  students  of  a  polytechnic  school,  we  have  been  guided 
partly  by  the  experience  of  older  similar  institutions  in  Europe, 
but  chiefly  by  the  obvious  needs  of  our  own  people. 

The  first  great  want  was  for  civil  engineers,  who  should 
locate  and  construct  the  vast  net-work  of  railroads,  which  con- 
tinually grows  thicker  and  closer  all  over  our  land,  with  their 
thousands  of  bridges  and  tunnels.  Our  school  must,  there- 
fore, have  a  special  course  of  work  and  study  in  civil  engi- 
neering. 

Then  chemists  were  wanted,  —  men  skilled  in  the  analysis  of 
soils,  ores,  manures,  poisons,  noxious  gases,  and  the  various 
products  of  industry.  We  have  gas  inspectors,  milk  inspectors, 
and  water  inspectors,  each  of  whom  must  be  an  accomplished 
chemist.  Every  manufacturing  company,  whether  of  iron  or 
steel,  or  paint  or  soap,  or  refined  sugar,  has  its  chemist ;  and  the 
sphere  of  the  chemist's  labors  increases  day  by  ckiy.  Our  poly- 
technic school  must,  then,  be  prepared  to  give  a  thorough  course 
of  training  in  chemistry. 

As  soon  .as  placer  mining  seemed  exhausted,  and  the  seekers 
for  gold  and  silver  found  themselves  face  to  face  with  huge 
mountains,  in  fche  grasp  of  whose  mighty  ledges  the  precious 
ores  lay  hidden,  it  began  to  be  felt  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid 
of  men  sufficiently  well  versed  in  geology,  mechanics,  and 
machinery  to  wisely  locate  and  superintend  the  working  of  vast 
mines,  as  well  as  skillful  in  the  processes  of  reducing  and  assay- 
ing the  ores.  Then,  too,  the  immense  and  rapidly  increasing 
demand  for  iron  turned  all  eyes  upon  our  wealth  of  iron  ores, 
and  men  were  demanded  trained  in  methods  of  developing 
them.  Thus,  without  referring  to  our  mines  of  copper,  lead, 
zinc,  and  possibly  tin,  it  will  be  at  once  perceived  that  our 


248  ORIGIN,   ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING,     [Chap,  X, 

school  must  be  prepared  to  train  and  qualify  the  mining 
engineer  and  the  metallurgist. 

Meanwhile,  there  came  from  all  sides  calls  for  men  skilled  in 
machines  and  mechanism.  There  were  engines  arid  motors  of 
all  sorts  to  be  built ;  machines  of  every  conceivable  pattern 
were  to  be  constructed  ;  arid  men  were  wanted  trained  in  all 
the  theories  of  mechanics,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
nature  and  properties  of  the  materials  used  in  construction,  and 
skilled  in  the  use  of  tools.  It  was  clear  that  our  technical 
school  should  aim  to  educate  and  train,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
mechanical  engineer. 

If  we  add  to  this  list  of  technical  courses  of  study  that  of 
building  and  architecture,  which  has  thus  far  received  but  little 
attention  among  us,  and  some  rather  problematical  experiments 
in  the  study  of  agriculture  and  horticulture,  we  have  told  about 
the  whole  story  of  technical  education  in  the  United  States, 
'outside  of  the  government  naval  and  military  schools.  In 
Europe  more,  vastly  more,  has  been  attempted,  and  much  more 
has  been  done ;  but,  although  their  experience  in  these  matters 
is  not  without  its  value  to  us,  it  is  carefully  to  be  borne  in  mind 
that  an  institution  admirably  adapted  to  the  people  of  France 
or  Belgium  or  Prussia,  or  even  of  England,  is  not  necessarily 
the  one  for  us.  Our  social  frame-work  is  quite  different.  With 
us,  every  boy  is  a  natural  candidate  for  the  office  of  president, 
and  no  one  shall  dare  to  place  any  bounds  to  his  aspirations 
and  his  social  possibilities  ;  so  that  a  man  generally  spends  half 
his  days  in  finding  his  proper  level  where  he  can  settle  down 
to  contented,  steady  work.  In  Europe,  except  in  rare  instances, 
he  runs  smoothly  in  grooves  cut  for  him  before  he  was  born. 

INDUSTRIAL   TRAINING   IN   EUROPE. 

Hence,  it  is  possible  and  even  necessary  for  them  to  establish 
industrial  schools  for  children  at  an  early  age.  In  these  schools 
the  children  are  occupied  in  all  about  nine  hours  per  day. 
In  the  morning  and  during  an  hour  in  the  evening  they  receive 
instruction  as  in  a  school.  During  the  middle  of  the  day  they 
work  at  the  trade,  whatever  it  may  be,  under  the  direction  of 
those  who  teach  them  the  rationale  of  the  art.  In  schools  like 


Chap,  X,]          THE   COURSE   OF  AMERICAN   INDUSTRY.  249 

these,  which  originated  in  Belgium  and  France,  instruction  is 
given  in  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  coloring,  dyeing,  silk 
and  ribbon  weaving,  lace-making ;  of  making  mathematical 
instruments,  of  stone-cutting  and  wood-carving,  of  glass-work, 
and  light  kinds  of  metal-work.  The  education  thus  gained  is 
often  all  the  children  get.  The  schools  are  filled  with  the 
children  of  laborers  and  operatives,  who,  having  been  early 
destined  to  this  particular  trade,  look  contentedly  forward  to 
being  workmen  and  operatives  themselves. 

Such  schools,  beyond  their  establishment  in  connection  with 
charitable  and  reformatory  institutions,  are  obviously  impossi- 
ble in  this  country,  at  least  for  the  present ;  but  there  seems 
to  be  no  reason  why  our  primary  and  secondary,  public  and 
private  schools  on  the  one  hand,  and  our  polytechnic  schools 
on  the  other,  can  not  be  so  modified  that  they  may  be  able 
to  accomplish  between  them  all  that  is  desirable  to  attempt  to 
do  in  competing  with  the  trade  products  of  Europe.  I  say 
all  that  it  is  desirable  to  attempt,  for  I  do  not  consider  it  at  all 
worthy  of  effort  to  attempt  to  compete  with  many  of  the  hand- 
made products  of  European  industry.  I  would  as  soon  attempt 
to  rival  the  deft  and  patient  inhabitant  of  India  in  the  manu- 
facture of  Calcutta  toys  and  camel's-hair  shawls.  The  coming 
age  is  to  be,  even  more  than  this,  an  age  of  machinery.  The 
Waltham  Watch  Company  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  Elgin  in 
Illinois,  indicate  the  true  course  for  American  industry  to  take. 
All  the  works  of  their  watches  are  machine-made,  and  hence 
they  are  able  to  undersell  many  of  the  established  watch- 
makers of  Europe,  whose  work  is  mostly  done  by  hand.  Give 
us  a  better  knowledge  of  physics  and  chemistry,  a  knowledge, 
so  to  speak,  that  is  at  our  fingers'  ends ;  give  us  new  and  im- 
proved and  finished  machinery,  and  with  it  some  training  in 
the  theory  and  practice  of  mechanism,  and  we  will  challenge  the 
competition  of  the  world. 

I  have  referred  to  the  want  of  confidence  in  the  value  of  our 
old  system  of  education  beyond  the  most  elementary  work, 
and  it  is  just  to  note  the  changes  now  taking  place  which  seem 
to  be  wisely  made.  I  observe  the  introduction  of  natural 
science  studies  into  the  programs  of  all  grades  of  the  public 


250  ORIGIN,    ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING.      [Chap,  X. 

schools,  and  into  the  highest  the  introduction  of  free-hand  and 
mechanical  drawing,  and  other  studies  strictly  preparatory  to  a 
polytechnic  course  of  study.  Thus  do  the  higher  technical 
and  professional  schools,  in  proportion  to  the  clearness  with 
which  they  define  their  work  and  then  maintain  their  standards, 
exert  the  influence  which  higher  schools  always  exert  upon 
lower  and  preparatory  ones,  and  mold  them  into  an  improved 
pattern. 

SCIENTIFIC   versus  CLASSIC   CULTURE. 

Before  I  proceed  to  speak  of  the  methods  of  a  completely 
organized  and  .thoroughly  equipped  polytechnic  school,  I  wish 
to  say  a  few  words  in  defense  of  the  dignity  of  a  technical 
education,  and  upon  the  value  of  scientific  as  opposed  to 
classical  culture. 

The  infinite  range  of  human  knowledge,  as  was  remarked 
before,  compels  each  student  to  select  a  course  of  study  rela- 
tively narrower  and  narrower.  To  speak  allegorically,  we  start 
out  in  our  educational  career  together.  As  yet  we  have  no 
notion  of  where  our  path  will  lead :  we  seem  to  be  all  travelling 
the  same  road.  We  learn  to  speak  and  read  and  write  our 
mother  tongue.  We  learn  enough  of  this  earth  of  ours  to  tell 
our  latitude  and  longitude.  We  catch  a  few  glimpses  of  the 
field  of  mathematics,  and  then  our  journey  becomes  more  diffi- 
cult. We  grapple  with  hard  problems ;  we  breathe  invigorating 
odors ;  we  climb  sharp  precipices ;  we  press  blindly  through 
thickets  to  the  glimmering  lights  beyond;  we  fall,  and  try 
other  paths,  till  at  last  each  sees  a  straight  course  before  him. 
He  looks  for  his  comrades,  but  they  are  all  gone.  We  are 
threading  our  several  narrow  paths  alone.  Of  course,  each  is 
sure  he  is  on  the  right  road,  and  that  the  rest  are  more  or  less 
astray.  Perhaps  I  find  my  path  leading  through  classic  fields. 
The  way  is  rough  with  Greek  roots,  and  blocked  up  with  dia- 
lectic forms.  On  my  right  I  see  the  yellow  Tiber,  rolling  by 
the  temples  of  the  gods,  near  which  I  see  the  toga'd  Cicero 
swaying  the  people  with  his  eloquence.  I  see  the  gentle  Virgil 
chanting  his  thrilling  lay  in  the  halls  of  the  Csesars,  while  Livy 
is  embellishing  history  for  the  glory  of  Rome.  On  my  left  I 


Chap.  X,]  AN  ALLEGORY.  251 

see  the  Olympian  mountains,  the  groves  of  Athens,  and  the 
thronged  Acropolis.  I  behold  Demosthenes  lashing  the  Greeks 
into  a  frenzy  of  rage  against  Philip  of  Macedon.  A  crowd  is 
rushing  to  the  theater,  to  be  thrown  into  a  whirl  of  passion  by 
a  tragedy  of  Euripides,  or  convulsed  with  laughter  by  a  comedy 
of  Aristophanes.  A  blind  bard  is  singing  from  house  to  house 
the  wrath  of  Achilles,  the  fall  of  Troy,  and  the  woes  of  the 
brave  Ulysses ;  while  in  a  quiet  garden,  with  a  small  band  of 
pupils,  Plato  and  Aristotle  walk  in  the  cool  retreats,  discussing 
life,  duty,  the  causes  and  the  ends  of  things. 

What  a  world  of  beauty  and  wisdom  lies  before  me  !  I  will 
press  on  to  these  Elysian  fields,  and  drink  at  these  classic  founts. 
A  feeling  of  pity  springs  up  in  my  self-satisfied  heart  for  my 
companions  of  yesterday,  who  have  lost  their  way,  and  who  are 
wandering  on  in  other  paths.  I  call  aloud  and  listen.  From 
afar  come  up  the  cheery  cries,  as  of  men  not  lost,  but  victorious. 
I  charge  them  to  come  with  me.  Jam  on  the  right  road.  They 
answer  that  J,  not  they,  have  strayed. 

In  the  dim  distance  I  see  one  digging  in  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  and  taking  therefrom  what  looks  like  dross,  but  from 
which  he,  with  fervent  heat  and  colored  flame  and  strange 
mixings,  brings  a  wealth  of  precious  and  of  useful  ore. 

Another  is  absorbed  in  the  study  of  the  laws  of  motion,  force, 
and  strength ;  and,  as  if  by  magic,  he  is  rearing  a  crystal  palace, 
marvelous  for  grace  and  lightness,  rivaling  in  beauty  the  very 
Parthenon  itself. 

Another,  amid  the  war  of  mighty  engines,  which  in  smoke 
and  flame  eclipse  almost  the  mighty  JEtna,  and  in  the  glare  of 
forges  and  the  clang  of  hammers  such  as  Vulcan  never  saw,  is 
training  eye  and  hand  and  brain  for  the  fabrication  of  a  maze 
of  strange  machinery. 

Another  is  studying  the  life  and  growth  of  plants  and  trees 
and  crops ;  another,  the  races  of  animals,  their  structure,  origin, 
and  development ;  another  observes  the  laws  of  trade,  of  society, 
of  wealth,  of  justice,  and  of  the  mind  itself. 

I  vainly  urge  them  to  follow  me.  I  tell  them  of  the  sages 
and  orators  and  poets  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  They  echo 
back  the  names  of  Newton,  and  Leibnitz,  and  Faraday,  and 


252  ORIGIN,   ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING.     [Chap.  X. 

Liebig,  and  Goethe,  and  Shakespere,  and  Rumford,  and  Helm- 
holz,  and  Darwin,  and  Maxwell,  and  Tyndall,  and  Agassiz, 
and  Watt,  and  Stephenson. 

Some  of  these  names  I  know.  Many  I  never  heard  of  before, 
as  their  names  are  not  in  my  lexicons ;  but  I  am  certain  that 
some  are  men  of  no  classical  culture,  and  are  only  concerned  in 
the  study  of  very  common  things.  None  of  us  will  be  persuaded 
to  abandon  his  course,-  and  so  we  go  on  our  several  ways  with 
mutual  sneers  of  contempt.  We  are  all  amazed  at  the  stupidity 
and  want  of  judgment  which  people  do  show  on  educational 
matters. 

LIBERAL   EDUCATION. 

But  let  us  return  from  our  journeyings,  and  compare  notes. 
It  is  obvious  enough  that  all  were  right,  and  all  were  wrong. 
It  would  have  been  ruinous  to  the  last  degree  to  have  all  gone 
the  same  way.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  world's  prog- 
ress that  we  travel  by  different  routes.  The  labor  of  each  but 
complements  the  labors  of  all  the  rest,  and  one  has  no  more 
right  to  scorn  or  underrate  another  who  has  been  equally 
engaged  in  honest,  faithful  work,  than  has  the  eye  to  scorn  the 
foot,  the  foot  the  hand,  or  the  hand  the  ear.  Therefore  we  will 
not  call  my  education  liberal,  and  yours  illiberal ;  but  each  shall 
respect  the  other's  attainments,  and  rejoice  that  the  day  for  cut- 
ting out  a  generation  all  on  the  same  pattern  has  passed  away. 
All  training,  to  be  thorough,  must  be  special.  General  culture 
means,  and  must  inevitably  mean,  a  little  of  every  thing  and 
nothing  deep.  The  man  who  lays  claim  to  all  knowledge  is  at 
once  put  down  as  a  conceited  quack.  The  man,  on  the  con- 
trary, who  modestly  limits  his  pretensions  to  one  science  or 
study,  claiming  only  an  imperfect  acquaintance  even  with  the 
closely  related  sciences,  may  be  regarded  as  an  accomplished 
man.  There  is  an  old  proverb  which  is  full  of  wisdom :  "  Be- 
ware of  the  man  of  one  book."  That  is,  he  who  has  read,  and 
re-read,  and  read  again,  one  good  book,  is  more  to  be  feared  as 
an  adversary  than  he  who  has  hastily  and  carelessly  read  scores. 
So  in  matters  of  science.  Let  one  master  thoroughly  one 
science, — i.e.,  up  to  the  present  limits  of  knowledge;  no  matter 
whether  it  be  mathematics,  or  chemistry,  or  thermodynamics, 


Chap.  I.]  THE  NEED   OF  ELECTIVE   COURSES.  253 

or  political  economy,  or  physiology,  —  and  he  is  a  man  to  be 
looked  up  to  and  feared.  He  has  incidentally  learned  much  of 
cognate  matters,  but  above  all  he  has  learned  the  method  and 
reach  of  scientific  study.  All  the  activities  of  life  are  based 
upon  scientific  principles;  and  not  only  our  usefulness,  but 
our  happiness,  largely  depend  upon  the  amount  and  quality 
of  our  knowledge  of  these  underlying  principles. 

But,  you  ask,  how  shall  we  choose  for  ourselves  and  for 
our  children  ?  By  pointing  out  so  many  paths,  you  only  add 
to  our  perplexity.  Shall  we  follow  the  old,  well-worn  path  our 
fathers  trod?  Shall  our  children  spend  six  or  seven  years  in 
studying  Greek  or  Latin,  or  Hebrew  and  Sanscrit,  or  shall  that 
time  be  mainly  given  to  modern  languages,  to  mathematics  and 
the  physical  sciences?  This  is  a  hard  question,  and  every  one 
earlier  or  later  must  ask  it.  Remember,  there  is  no  single 
universal  answer.  I  might  decide  in  one  way,  you  in  another. 
Fortunately,  we  disagree ;  and  men  everywhere,  men  renowned 
in  science  and  art,  in  literature,  ancient  and  modern,  differ  in 
naming  the  one  course  to  be  pursued.  .  .  . 

EDUCATION   OF  INTRINSIC   VALUE. 

Thus  you  see  that  the  old  bands  are  broken,  that  there  is  no 
royal  road  to  culture  or  scholarship.  Latin  and  Greek  are, 
very  properly,  the  sine  qua  non  of  the  college  curriculum,  but 
they  have  lost  their  claim  to  a  monopoly  of  the  words  of  wis- 
dom and  worth.  Henceforth,  students  will  "elect"  a  classical 
course,  as  they  would  chemistry  or  natural  history;  and  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  language  and  literature  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome  will  be  regarded  as  much  a  specialty,  as  civil 
engineering  or  practical  astronomy. 

I  have  said  more  on  this  point  than  I  should  have  done, 
had  I  not  of  late  noticed  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of  the 
friends  of  one  or  another  of  these  rival  courses  of  study  to 
sneer  at  the  others.  It  is  very  easy  to  deny  Prof.  Tyndall's 
claim  to  the  title  of  an  educated  and  cultivated  man,  because, 
forsooth,  he  has  never  studied  Greek ;  and  it  is  equally  easy  to 
retort  (as  has  also  been  done)  that,  as  a  rule,  those  who  have 
spent  so  much  time  and  labor  in  studying  the  ancient  tongues, 


254  ORIGIN,    ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TRAINING.     [Chap.  X, 

are  notoriously  ignorant  and  unskilled  in  the  use  of  their  own. 
But  all  this  is  wrong.  One  must  be  content  to  be  ignorant  of 
much  that  others  know ;  and,  so  long  as  he  has  really  attained 
to  knowledge  and  skill  in  some  path  of  usefulness,  he  should 
feel  that  he  has  not  forfeited  his  claim  to  respect  and  fellow- 
ship. As  to  the  question,  which  course  of  study  shall  you 
pursue,  I  can  only  say,  that,  in  my  judgment,  the  knowledge 
which  it  is  best  for  you  to  have  is  the  best  for  you  to  get ; 
there  is  no  divorce  between  wise  possession  and  rich  experience 
in  acquiring,  between  the  best  ends  and  the  best  means.  As 
Dr,  Wayland,  in  substance,  says,  "It  is  the  intention  of  the 
all- wise  Creator  that  all  intellectual  culture  shall  issue  to 
knowledge  that  is  of  the  greatest  intrinsic  value  ;  and  that  all 
useful  knowledge,  properly  acquired,  tends  equally  to  intellectual 
development." 

CHARACTERISTICS   OF   THE   POLYTECHNIC    SCHOOL. 

This  distinguishing  feature  of  a  polytechnic  school,  next  to 
the  kind  of  knowledge  it  aims  to  give,  lies  in  its  method  of 
combining  theory  with  practice.  Not  only  should  a  polytech- 
nic school  aim  to  give  instruction  in  the  scientific  principles 
theoretically  involved  in  every  important  branch  of  industry, 
but  it  should  not  be  satisfied  until  the  student  himself  is  suffi- 
ciently familiar  with  the  details  of  the  processes  in  question,  and 
sufficiently  skilled  in  the  necessary  manipulations,  to  enable 
him  to  illustrate  these  principles  himself.  These  two  things 
characterize  the  ideal  technical  school,  and  mark  the  educa- 
tional progress  of  this  generation :  First,  the  things  studied 
and  taught  are  of  immediate  importance  and  of  intrinsic  value  ; 
second,  one  is  not  supposed  to  understand  a  process  or  an 
experiment  till  he  has  performed  it.  You  know  how  it  is  in 
music.  I  may  be  quite  familiar  with  the  mathematical  and 
physical  theories  of  music.  I  may  have  studied  with  Helmholz 
the  wonderful  mechanism  of  the  ossicles  of  the  ear.  I  may  be 
deeply  read  in  the  aesthetics  of  harmony  and  thorough-bass.  I 
may  even  be  able  to  explain  the  exact  difference  between  a 
enharmonic  and  a  common  organ.  And  yet,  if  I  can  not  play, 
I  am  no  musician.  Moreover,  this  playing  on  an  organ  is  not 


Chap.  X.]  THEORY  AND   PRACTICE.  255 

a  manual  accomplishment  merely.  The  brain  is  more  con- 
cerned than  the  fingers.  It  is  so  in  every  thing.  What  avails 
your  knowledge  of  photography  unless  you  can  take  a  good 
picture,  and  of  what  worth  is  your  engineering  if  your  bridge 
will  not  carry  its  own  weight,  and  you  have  designed  an  impos- 
sible engine  ?  None  but  the  wearer  can  know  where  the  shoe 
pinches,  and  none  but  a  man  who  has  had  some  practice  is 
prepared  for  practical  difficulties.  Prof.  Tyndall  says,  "Half 
of  our  book-writers  describe  experiments  that  they  never  made, 
and  their  descriptions  often  lack  both  force  and  truth.  No 
matter  how  clever  and  conscientious  they  may  be,  their  written 
words  can  not  supply  the  place  of  actual  observation,"  and  he 
might  have  added,  "of  actual  manipulation."  Theory  and 
practice,  then,  must  go  hand  in  hand ;  and,  in  order  that  the 
practice  may  be  adequate  to  the  theory,  the  hand  and  eye  and 
head  must  receive  previous  careful  training,  —  the  hand  in  the 
use  of  instruments  and  tools ;  the  eye  in  measuring  distances 
and  angles,  in  detecting  peculiarities  of  form,  and  in  observing 
the  details  of  a  construction ;  the  head  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
common  properties  of  the  commonest  material  substances,  such 
as  wood,  stone,  iron,  glass,  etc.  The  hand  is  a  wonderful  organ, 
and  capable  of  performing  vastly  more  than  it  is  usually  made 
to  do.  The  same  is  true  of  the  eye.  Close  observation  is  a 
habit  which  few  acquire. 

MANUAL   TRAINING. 

Children  should  early  be  taught  to  use,  as  well  as  to  beware 
of,  sharp  tools.  Just  as  every  boy  should  be  taught  to  swim,  to 
row,  to  ride  and  groom  a  horse,  so  he  should  be  taught  to  use 
the  ax,  the  saw,  the  plane,  and  the  file.  Even  a  little  skill  in 
the  use  of  these  tools  is  invaluable.  No  one  possessing  manual 
dexterity  of  any  kind  fails  to  find  abundant  opportunity  for 
its  use. 

I  do  not  think  I  overestimate  the  value  of  physical  strength, 
dexterity,  and  skill.  It  is  in  vain  to  assert  the  dignity  of  labor. 
Unless  it  has  something  in  it  besides  dignity,  we  are  not  likely 
to  be  very  zealous  in  seeking  it.  But  skill  we  delight  in.  It 
is  the  exercise  of  skill  which  gives  zest  to  all  our  games  and 


256  ORIGIN,    ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC    TRAINING,      [chap,  X. 

sports,  and  removes  the  curse  of  Adam.  There  is  not  a  person 
before  me  possessed  of  unusual  skill, — I  care  not  whether  it  be 
in  handling  the  carpenter's  ax  or  the  painter's  brush,  in  playing 
the  organ  or  in  shooting  game,  in  driving  horses  or  in  sailing  a 
boat,  in  making  bread  or  in  fitting  a  garment, — who  is  not 
conscious  of  a  feeling  of  gratification  and  pride  in  consequence. 
Carlyle  says  in  his  Sartor  Resartus,  "  Two  men  I  honor,  and  no 
third:  First,  the  toil-worn  craftsman,"  etc.  It  is  obvious  that 
it  is  the  craft  that  he  honors,  and  not  the  toil. 

I  therefore  plead  for  a  more  extended  and  more  systematic 
physical  [manual]  education.  It  is  the  best  aid  towards  secur- 
ing a  wholesome  intellectual  culture,  and  it  is  the  only  means 
for  making  that  culture  of  practical  use.  The  world  judges  and 
rates  us  according  to  what  we  can  do  ;  and  as  an  accomplished 
gymnast  never  loses  his  presence  of  mind,  whether  hanging 
by  one  foot  or  turning  in  mid-air,  so  a  well-trained  engineer  is 
rarely  at  a  loss.  An  acquaintance  of  mine,  a  young  man  well 
trained  in  both  the  theory  and  use  of  tools,  and  accustomed  to 
do  things,  chanced  to  pass,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  a  gang  of 
workmen  endeavoring  to  move  an  immense  iron  safe.  The 
unwieldy  mass  had  partially  slipped  from  their  grasp,  and  all 
efforts  to  bring  it  again  under  control  seemed  to  fail.  Taking 
in  the  situation  at  a  glance,  my  friend  stepped  forward  and 
assumed  the  command.  Clearly  and  without  hesitation  he 
gave  his  orders ;  promptly  and  willingly  the  men  obeyed.  In 
a  moment  the  safe  was  well  in  hand,  and  expeditiously  moved 
to  its  place.  As  the  young  engineer  turned  to  go,  a  gentleman 
stopped  him  and  said,  "  Young  man,  I  will  give  you  three 
thousand  dollars  a  year  if  you  will  enter  my  employ  and  take 
the  charge  of  moving  our  safes."  Besides  saying  that  the  skill 
thus  displayed  was  gained  by  study  of  the  strength  of  materials 
and  the  mechanical  powers,  coupled  with  the  actual  use  of  tools 
in  his  own  hands,  I  ought  to  add,  perhaps,  that  the  blunt  offer  was 
politely  declined. 

SHOP-WORK. 

But  the  acquisition  of  this  desirable  manual  skill  requires 
workshops  and  tools  and  teachers ;  and,  as  such  essentials  are 
not  in  general  to  be  had  at  home  or  at  a  common  school,  the 


Chap.  X.  ]  MA  NUAL    TEA  IN  IN  G    OUTL I  NED.  257 

work  must  be  done  at  a  polytechnic  school.  Hence,  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment,  in  the  lowest  class,  students  must 
enter  the  workshop.  From  the  bench  of  the  carpenter  they 
should  go  to  the  lathe.  Wood-turning  is  an  art  requiring  great 
judgment  and  skill,  and  any  one  accomplished  in  it  will  testify 
to  its  great  practical  value.  After  wood,  come  brass,  iron,  and 
steel  turning,  fitting,  and  finishing  ;  then  the  forge,  where  each 
should  learn  welding  and  tempering.  This  is  the  alphabet  of 
tools.  Next  will  come  their  legitimate  use  in  the  manufacture 
of  patterns  for  castings,  in  the  construction  of  model  frames, 
trusses,  bridges,  and  roofs ;  in  the  cutting  of  screws  and  nuts 
with  threads  of  various  pitch  ;  and  in  the  manufacture  of  spur 
and  bevel  wheels,  with  epicycloid  and  involute  teeth.  This 
shop-work  should  extend  through  the  entire  course  of  four 
years,  varying  somewhat  according  to  the  professional  course 
selected. 

DRAWING. 

Meanwhile,  also,  throughout  the  course,  the  student  should 
study  and  practice  drawing.  Drawing  is  the  short-hand  lan- 
guage of  modern  science.  Careful  drawings  are  to  technically 
educated  people  what  pictures  are  to  children.  They  show  at  a 
glance  what  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  words  to  express.  It  is 
a  universal  language,  and  should  be  read  and  understood  of  all 
men.  But  drawing  has  another  use  of  equal  value.  It  is  the 
most  potent  means  for  developing  the  perceptive  faculties, 
teaching  the  student  to  see  correctly,  and  to  understand  what 
he  sees.  Drawing,  if  well  taught,  is  the  constant  practice  of  the 
analysis  of  forms,  and  by  this  practice  the  eye  is  quickened 
and  rendered  incomparably  more  accurate ;  and  as  the  eye  is 
the  most  open  and  ready  road  through  which  knowledge  passes 
to  the  mind,  the  full  development  of  its  powers  can  be  a  matter 
of  no  small  importance  to  all.  In  this  respect,  then,  as  an 
educator  of  the  eye,  drawing  is  a  most  valuable  means,  irre- 
spective of  any  service  that  the  power  may  be  of  itself.  But 
there  is  another  faculty  engaged  in  this  study,  —  that  one  which 
distinguishes  man  from  the  cleverest  of  the  animals,  —  the  hand 
is  employed,  and  it  also  is  educated  and  trained  to  be  more  com- 
pletely under  the  control  of  the  will  than  by  any  other  exercise 


258  ORIGIN,    ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC    TRAINING.      [Chap,  X. 

it  can  be  set  to ;  it  acquires  a  delicacy  of  movement  and  a 
refinement  of  power  which  no  other  discipline  can  impart,  and 
which  fits  it  more  completely  to  perform  its  varied  and  delicate 

functions. 

APPRENTICESHIP. 

At  Worcester  we  see  young  men  actually  learning  a  lucrative 
and  honorable  trade,  while  gaining  a  good  knowledge  of  physics, 
chemistry,  mathematics,  mechanics,  drawing  of  all  kinds,  French, 
English  composition,  political  economy,  etc.  It  may  be  well 
here  to  add,  that,  though  the  Institute  receives  quite  an  income 
from  the  sales  of  its  manufactured  articles,  it  is  a  fixed  rule 
with  the  management  that  no  student  shall  receive  pay  for 
shop-work  done  during  the  regular  practice  hours.  Extra 
work,  however,  is  paid  for  exactly  according  to  its  value.  This 
Worcester  Institute  grows  more  and  more  popular  every  day, 
thus  showing  that  it  meets  a  popular  want.  To  it  young  men 
more  or  less  skilled  in  the  use  of  tools,  and  with  decided  mechan- 
ical tastes,  are  flocking  in  increasing  numbers.  Not  all  will 
become  mechanical  engineers,  or  even  machinists;  but  all  are 
adopting  one  of  the  best  means  of  making  themselves  independ- 
ent of  fickle  fortune,  and  of  making  successful  business  men. 

This  feature  of  actually  learning  a  trade  is  invested  with  a 
new  interest  in  these  days  of  co-operative  societies  and  labor 
unions.  You  know  that  these  unions  regulate,  or  try  to  regulate, 
the  number  of  apprentices  which  a  shop  may  have.  Hence  it 
is  often  impossible  for  a  young  man  to  get  a  place  to  learn  a 
trade ;  and  sometimes,  even  when  a  place  is  to  be  had,  it  costs 
one,  if  not  his  life,  at  least  his  personal  comfort  and  happiness, 
to  accept  it.  You  easily  see  how  important  a  bearing  upon  our 
social  well-being,  in  a  city  like  St.  Louis,  this  question  of  train- 
ing apprentices  is ;  but  I  can  only  refer  to  it  here. 

It  seems  to  me  that  such  an  institution  as  the  Washburn 
Machine-Shop  should  be  made  a  feature  of  every  polytechnic 
school.  In  the  last  bulletin  from  Prest.  Runkle,  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology,  he  says,  "  We  must  have 
a  machine-shop."  The  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology  at  Ho- 
boken,  N.J.,  is  mainly  a  school  of  mechanical  engineering,  and 
has  a  large  machine-shop  splendidly  equipped.  This  noble 


Chap,  X,]  SHOP-WORK  IN  1873.  259 

institution  is  due  to  the  munificence  of  Mr.  Edwin  A.  Stevens, 
who  gave  a  square  of  land  in  his  native  city,  erected  a  mag- 
nificent building  at  the  cost  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  and  then  gave  as  a  permanent  endowment  the  princely 
sum  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  As  it  has  been  in  opera- 
tion scarcely  two  years,  we  can  not  quote  its  experience. 
As  for 

THE    POLYTECHNIC   DEPARTMENT    OF    THIS    UNIVERSITY, 

I  have  time  for  but  a  single  word.  We  have  our  chemical 
laboratories,  where  every  possible  experiment  is  tried  with  the 
greatest  ease  and  nicety.  We  have  our  mining  and  metallurgi- 
cal laboratories,  where  all  the  processes  of  smelting  and  assay- 
ing ores  are  carried  on ;  we  have  very  full  and  valuable  cabinets 
of  minerals  and  fossils ;  we  have  a  very  fair  assortment  of  physi- 
cal apparatus,  and  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the  student  in 
physics  to  put  his  theoretical  results  to  the  test,  and  to  carry 
on  his  independent  investigations ;  we  have  all  the  instruments 
used  by  civil  engineers,  and  a  very  good  collection  of  models. 
In  addition  to  the  above,  we  have,  what  is  certainly  worthy  of 
mention,  a  small  workshop,  containing  a  single  work-bench, 
two  foot-lathes,  a  gear-cutter,  and  a  forge.  Small  and  inade- 
quate as  this  shop  is  to  the  wants  of  our  department,  I  hold  it 
at  no  mean  price.  Our  great  want,  however,  lies  in  this  direc- 
tion :  money  !  Did  I  hear  you  say  that  such  things  cost  money  ? 
I  grant  it.  Everything  worth  having  usually  costs  heavily  ;  but 
remember,  I  have  proved  that  such  investments  pay,  —  if  not  in 
this  generation,  certainly  in  the  next.  The  road  to  commercial 
prosperity  lies  through  the  door  of  practical,  scientific  training ; 
and  in  these  matters  the  great  city  of  the  West  must  not  be 
behind  her  Eastern  sisters.  Give  us  our  suite  of  workshops, 
our  Washburn  Machine-Shop,  and  we  will  call  it  by  any  name 
you  please. 

A   NOBLE   EXAMPLE. 

It  is  a  part  of  my  duty — and  I  hope  you  consider  it  also  a 
part  of  yours  —  to  preach  the  crusade  of  a  higher  and  better 
education,  until  no  one  shall  need  to  be  persuaded  of  the  value 
of  that  whose  price  is  above  rubies.  As  to  the  other  considera- 


260  ORIGIN,   ETC.,    OF  POLYTECHNIC   TEAINING.     [Chap,  X, 

tion,  —  namely,  that  of  rendering  it  possible  for  every  young 
man  desiring  it  to  seek  in  a  polytechnic  school  for  that  educa- 
tion which  shall  enable  him  the  better  to  discharge  his  duties  to 
himself  and  to  others,  —  let  me  commend  the  royal  example  of 
Sir  Joseph  Whitworth,  England's  great  mechanical  engineer.1 

i  NOTE  WRITTEN  IN  1877.—  Sir  Joseph  Whitworth,  in  1868,  when  plain  Joseph 
Whitworth,  mechanical  engineer,  at  Manchester,  Eng.,  founded  thirty  "Whit- 
worth Scholarships,"  worth  five  hundred  dollars  each  annually.  He  was  knighted 
the  following  year.  For  a  similar  wise  and  noble  disposition  of  honorable  wealth 
among  us,  we  cheerfully  pledge  the  honors  of  an  American  knighthood.  Whit- 
worth still  lives  to  superintend  with  increasing  satisfaction  the  disposition  of  his 
magnificent  liberality. 


Chap,  XI.]  METHODS   OF  EDUCATION.  261 


CHAPTER  XI. 

MANUAL    EDUCATION.* 

"TTTHEN  stated  in  general  terms,  the  object  of  education 

VV  has  been  the  same  in  all  ages,  —  the  development  of 
those  powers  and  faculties  which  combine  to  form  the  ideal  man 
of  the  age.  But  when  we  examine  the  ideals,  the  standards  of 
excellence  set  up,  we  find  them  as  different  and  as  various  as 
possible. 

Among  the  Greeks  this  education  was  secured  by  the  study 
of  Homer  and  geometry,  and  by  the  culture  of  physical  strength 
and  beauty;  the  latter  was  gained  by  gymnastic  exercises,  by 
running,  wrestling,  boxing,  hurling  the  discus,  and  handling 
the  weapons  of  war. 

The  later  Romans  aimed  to  make  poets  and  orators  and 
warriors,  and  trained  their  youth  in  the  study  of  poetry  and 
eloquence,  and  in  exercises  which  were  typified  in  the  bloody 
scenes  of  the  arena. 

A  thousand  years  later,  and  the  standard  has  again  changed. 
Orators  and  poets  have  disappeared.  In  place  of  the  naked 
foot-soldier,  with  a  shield  and  short  sword,  we  have  a  mounted 
knight,  clad  in  steel,  bearing  a  long  and  heavy  lance.  The 
youth  are  taught  to  ride  and  groom  a  horse,  to  run,  to  jump,  to 
row  a  boat,  to  bear  a  lance,  to  shoot  with  a  bow,  to  read  and 
write,  and  to  sing  songs  of  love  and  valor. 

Still  later,  when  the  invention  of  gunpowder  had  swept  away 
forever  that  extravagant  estimate  of  the  value  of  physical 
strength  and  powers,  when  the  invention  of  printing  had  spread 
throughout  Europe  the  wealth  of  ancient  literature,  the  stand- 
ards of  excellence  and  the  methods  of  education  turned  back 

i  A  paper  read  before  the  St.  Louis  Social  Science  Association,  May  16,  1878. 


262  M A NUAL   EDUCA TION.  [chap.  XL 

again  to  the  literature  of  the  past.  Pupils  were  taught  to  read 
and  write  the  ancient  languages.  They  studied  Euclid,  and 
memorized  Virgil  and  Homer.  Scholars  wrote  their  essays  upon 
literature,  science,  and  art  in  the  Latin  tongue.  Physical  train- 
ing gradually  disappeared.  The  pen  was  found  to  be  mightier 
than  the  sword:  so  the  hand  was  taught  to  wield  only  the 
pen.  The  popular  idea  of  excellence  was  embodied  in  a  man 
of  commanding  intellect  and  extensive  information,  whose  rea- 
soning powers  had  been  cultivated  to  the  highest  degree  by  the 
study  of  pure  mathematics  and  the  philosophy  of  the  ancients. 
The  practical  side  of  life,  with  its  thousands  of  material  and 
physical  problems,  was  looked  down  upon  as  ignoble  and  un- 
worthy serious  study.  To-day  the  civilized  world  is  re-acting 
from  this  one-sided  standard.  Systematic  education,  which  in 
former  times  was  limited  to  a  select  few  in  every  land,  has  now 
become  popular ;  and  we  are  gradually  learning  that  exclusively 
intellectual  education  is  not  exactly  what  the  people  want.  The 
schools  of  Eton  and  Rugby,  and  the  universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  were  perhaps  well  adapted  to  rear  the  scholars  and 
statesmen  of  Great  Britain  ;  but  they  are  not  the  schools  in 
which  to  train  all  the  children  of  London  and  Manchester. 

I  have  said  that  the  re-action  has  begun.  It  is,  however,  not 
so  much  a  re-action  as 

A   NEW   DEPARTURE   IN   EDUCATION. 

In  the  first  place,  the  excellence  of  intellectual  training  is 
admitted,  and  the  value  of  a  certain  amount  of  abstract  mental 
discipline  is  recognized.  In  the  second  place,  in  returning  to  a 
just  recognition  of  the  importance  of  our  physical  powers  and 
faculties,  and  of  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  properties  and 
uses  of  material  things,  the  new  education  trains  youth  to  skill- 
fully wield,  not  so  much  the  weapons  of  war,  as  the  instruments 
of  peace ;  not  so  much  the  shield  and  spear  and  battle-ax,  as 
the  file  and  chisel  and  sledge ;  to  drive  an  engine  in  the  inter- 
ests of  trade  and  commerce  and  peaceful  intercourse,  rather 
than  a  chariot  of  war  ;  and,  if  we  still  must  learn  the  art  of  war, 
we  would  teach  our  youth  to  fashion  and  use  the  unerring 
breech-loading  rifle,  rather  than  the  long  bow  or  the  short  sword. 


Chap.  XI.]  MAN  A    TOOL-USING   ANIMAL.  268 

During  the  last  hundred  years  the  world  has  made  rapid 
strides  in  the  invention  and  use  of  tools.  We  do  nothing  with 
the  unaided  hand ;  everything  is  done  by  tools. 

"  Man,"  says  Carlyle,  "  is  a  tool-using  animal.  He  can  use 
tools,  can  devise  tools ;  with  these  the  granite  mountains  melt 
into  light  dust  before  him ;  he  kneads  glowing  iron  as  if  it  were 
soft  paste ;  seas  are  his  smooth  highway,  winds  arid  fire  his 
unwearying  steeds.  Nowhere  do  you  find  him  without  tools : 
without  tools,  he  is  nothing ;  with  tools,  he  is  all." 

On  the  physical  side,  he  is  the  greatest  public  benefactor  who 
makes  the  best  tools,  and  he  is  the  best  workman  who  can  use 
tools  best. 

Since  these  things  are  so,  it  would  appear  that  a  proper 
system  of  education  should  include  some  training  in  the  use  of 
tools.  Mr.  Chaney,  the  president  of  the  Boston  Industrial 
School  Association,  says  in  a  recent  letter :  "  I  advocate  such 
training  (the  use  of  the  half  dozen  common  wood-working 
tools)  as  a  part  of  the  public-school  system,  on  the  ground 
that  it  is  a  necessary  part  of  the  education  of  every  house- 
holder." 

INSUFFICIENCY   OF   THE   PRESENT   SYSTEM. 

Nothing  is  clearer  than  that  our  present  system  of  education 
is  inadequate.  For  fifty  years  there  has  been  a  growing  con- 
viction that  the  education  of  the  schoolroom  does  not  cover  the 
whole  ground ;  that,  however  excellent  the  abstract  intellectual 
discipline,  however  thorough  may  be  the  reading  of  written 
histories  and  the  study  of  language,  a  great  want  is  still  unsat- 
isfied. We  want  a  fuller  knowledge  and  a  greater  familiarity 
with  the  material  world  by  which  we  are  surrounded,  through 
the  medium  of  which  we  act  for  and  upon  each  other  and  for 
our  own  physical  well-being.  A  knowledge  of  material  things 
and  material  instrumentalities  can  be  gained  only  by  close  and 
systematic  observation  and  study,  and  is  in  itself  a  liberal 
education.  Consider,  for  a  moment,  to  how  great  an  extent 
the  value  of  a  man  as  a  factor  in  society  depends  upon  his  exact 
information  of  the  material  world  and  nature's  laws.  The  con- 
clusions of  the  best  theorizer  are  valuable  only  in  proportion  to 


264  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap,  XL 

the  soundness  and  completeness  of  his  premises.  Is  a  plate  of 
rolled  iron  equally  strong  along  and  across  the  grain  ?  Does 
wood,  in  seasoning,  shrink  equally  in  all  directions  across  the 
grain  ?  What  shapes  can,  and  what  can  not,  be  molded  and 
cast  ?  What  is  any  one  of  the  myriad  facts  of  chemistry  learned 
fully  only  by  observation  and  experiment  ?  Upon  your  answer 
to  such  questions,  your  practical  usefulness  depends.  In  your 
investigations  upon  such  points,  your  brain  will  be  as  active  as 
your  hands.  If  you  neglect  to  use  either,  you  will  be  lame  and 
impotent. 

We  all  have  two  natures,  one  physical  and  one  spiritual, 
bound  together  in  a  union  so  close  that  no  man  can  draw  the 
line  of  separation.  If  the  material  world  is  not  the  basis  of 
the  intellectual,  it  is  certainly,  as  far  as  our  human  existence 
is  concerned,  the  sine  qua  non  of  its  growth  and  manifestation. 
The  sound  mind  can  be  found  only  in  connection  with  the 
sound  body. 

If  this  is  so,  sound  reasoning  would  require  their  co-edu- 
cation. 

THE   CO-EDUCATION   OF   BRAIN   AND   HAND. 

It  was  the  fashion  with  certain  fanatics  once,  and  it  is  still  an 
article  in  the  creed  of  some,  that  we  must  mortify  and  despise 
this  fleshly  nature.  This  glorious  frame,  with  all  its  wondrous 
mechanism,  must  be  put  to  shame ;  the  hand  must  lose  its 
cunning,  the  body  its  strength  and  vigor,  the  eye  its  lustre,  that 
the  spirit  alone  may  triumph. 

To  us  these  notions  seem  but  the  relic  of  a  barbarous  age, 
and  yet  they  have  burned  themselves  deep  into  our  social 
constitution. 

Our  care  must  be,  while  developing  and  strengthening  our 
mental  faculties,  and  imparting  some  useful  information,  to  cul- 
tivate the  hands  and  arms  and  eyes,  to  give  them  strength,  flexi- 
bility, dexterity,  precision,  and  habits  of  prompt  obedience  to 
the  will.  These  results  come  only  from  early  training ;  while 
the  body  is  growing  and  the  mind  is  maturing,  the  joints  are 
flexible  and  the  muscles  are  tractable,  the  eye  unprejudiced,  and 
the  mechanical  judgment  in  a  most  teachable  condition. 


Chap.  XI.]  MORE   THAN   BOOKS   IS   NEEDED.  2G5 

Wendell  Phillips  says :  "  The  discrimination  against  those 
who  prefer  to  work  with  their  hands  is  very  unjust.  Our  sys- 
tem of  education  helps  the  literary  class  to  an  unfair  extent, 
when  compared  with  what  it  affords  to  those  who  choose  some 
mechanical  pursuit.  Our  system  stops  too  short ;  and  as  a 
justice  to  boys  and  girls,  as  well  as  to  society,  it  should  see  to  it 
that  those  whose  life  is  to  be  one  of  manual  labor  should  be 
better  trained  for  it." 

Says  Anna  C.  Garlin>  in  the  New  England  Journal  of  Educa- 
tion :  "  Let  the  child  be  taken  to  school  whole,  instead  of  in 
parts ;  let  him  be  considered  to  have  a  body  as  well  as  a  mind ; 
let  him  be  trained  physically  toward  use,  by  a  wise  shaping 
of  the  eager  animal  activity ;  let  him  be  protected  from  the 
cupidity  of  manufacturer  and  the  pressure  of  home  poverty, 
by  utilizing  the  active  energy,  which  in  more  primitive  times 
was  of  so  much  account  in  the  family  economy;  let  him  be 
gradually  introduced  into  that  hard  world  of  work  for  which 
he  is  destined,  by  a  training  which  shall  be  of  the  hands  as 
well  as  of  the  brain.  ...  If  we  are  to  protect  the  children 
of  the  very  poor  from  the  very  worst  consequences  of  their 
condition,  without  making  paupers  of  them  or  their  parents,  we 
must  continue  (after  the  training  of  the  kindergarten)  in  some 
way  to  give  them  study  and  work  together." 

Says  Mr.  J.  P.  Wickersham,  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction for  the  State  of  Pennsylvania :  "  It  is  high  time  that 
something  should  be  done  to  enable  our  youth  to  learn  trades, 
and  to  form  industrious  habits  and  a  taste  for  work. 

"  It  is  not  enough  to  instruct  a  boy  in  the  branches  of  learn- 
ing usually  taught  in  our  common  schools,  and  there  leave  him. 
It  must  be  seen  to  by  some  authority  that  he  is  allowed  a  chance 
to  prepare  himself  to  earn  a  livelihood.  It  takes  more  than  a 
mere  knowledge  of  books  to  make  a  useful  member  of  society 
and  a  good  citizen.  The  present  product  of  our  schools  seems 
to  be,  in  too  great  a  degree,  clerks,  book-keepers,  salesmen, 
agents,  office-seekers,  and  office-holders.  We  must  so  modify 
our  system  of  instruction  as  to  send  out,  instead,  large  classes 
of  young  people  fitted  for  trades,  for  business,  and  willing  and 
able  to  work." 


266  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap,  XL 

Here  is  the  important  point,  —  "  able  and  willing  to  work." 
A  man  who  has  been  taught  to  work  with  intelligence  and  skill 
at  once  has  a  higher  estimate  of  labor  and  laboring  men. 

Test  this  by  referring  to  your  own  experiences.  Have  you  a 
single  physical  accomplishment  ?  If  you  have,  you  are  proud 
of  it.  It  may  be  that  you  are  skillful  in  the  use  of  the  rifle  or 
the  ax,  the  file  or  the  stone-mason's  sledge.  It  may  be  that  you 
excel  in  handling  the  pencil,  pen,  or  brush.  Perhaps  it  is  the 
needle,  the  violin,  the  piano,  or  only  the  cue.  Whetever  it  is, 
you  not  only  plume  yourself  upon  your  skill,  but  you  have  a 
high  respect  for  those  who  are  your  peers,  and  a  strong  suspicion 
that  few  people  have  any  idea  of  what  skill  like  yours  really 
means. 

Prest.  Runkle  says :  "  Public  education  should  touch  prac- 
tical life  in  a  larger  number  of  points ;  it  should  better  fit 
all  for  that  sphere  in  life  in  which  they  are  destined  to  find 
their  highest  happiness  and  well-being.  It  is  not  meant  by  this 
that  our  education  should  be  lowered  mentally,  but  that  it 
should  be  based,  if  possible,  upon  those  elements  which  may 
serve  the  double  purpose  of  a  mental  culture  and  discipline, 
—  a  development  of  the  capacity  of  the  individual  with  and 
through  the  acquisition  of  artistic  tastes  and  manual  skill  in 
the  graphic  and  mechanic  arts  which  most  largely  apply  in  our 
industries.  The  student  who  completes  his  high-school  course 
at  eighteen  seldom  willingly  enters  the  shop  as  an  apprentice, 
with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  skilled  mechanic  and  earning 
a  livelihood  by  manual  labor.  His  twelve  or  fourteen  years  of 
mental  school- work,  whether  highly  successful  or  not,  have, 
through  habit,  if  in  no  other  way,  unfitted  him  for  all  manual 
work,  even  if  he  has  not  in  many  ways  been  taught  to  despise 
such  labor." 

CONTEMPT   FOR   MANUAL   LABOR. 

The  average  man  is  apt  to  despise  and  underrate  an  accom- 
plishment which  he,  through  lack  of  training  or  effort,  does 
not  possess.  One  who  knows  how  to  use  tools  well  is  rarely 
ashamed  to  use  them ;  and  he  enjoys  it,  too.  The  ambitious 
young  wife  who  "  can  not  endure  cooking,"  and  who  scouts  the 


Chap.  XL]  SHUNNING   MANUAL   LABOR.  267 

idea  of  making  her  own  clothes,  is  simply  unable  to  do  either. 
The  man  who  turns  his  nose  up  highest  at  the  rough  palm  of 
the  joiner,  or  the  soiled  fingers  and  greasy  apron  of  a  machinist, 
is  generally  one  who  can  not  tell  steel  from  cast  iron,  and  can 
not  drive  a  nail  into  a  piece  of  wood  without  splitting  it.  It  is 
no  wonder  that  such  men  despise  labor  of  all  kinds.  Consist- 
ency requires  it ;  to  do  otherwise  would  be  a  sort  of  confession 
of  a  personal  mistake. 

But  opportunities  to  learn  trades  are  very  limited.  Indenture 
and  regular  apprenticeship  have  passed  away  for  ever.  The 
ordinary  apprentice  of  to-day  is  the  butt  and  fag  of  the  shop. 
No  one  takes  a  personal  interest  in  him,  nor  feels  any  responsi- 
bility for  his  progress.  He  is  kept  drudging,  and  his  progress 
in  learning  the  craft  is  made  secondary  to  his  employer's  inter- 
est. A  majority  of  apprentices  in  the  United  States  run  away 
before  their  trade  is  fully  learned,  and  set  up  the  claim  of 
journeymen  with  a  view  to  getting  better  pay.  This  lowers 
the  standards  of  workmanship,  of  honor,  and  of  wages  also. 
Apprenticeship  in  St.  Louis  to-day  means  long  days,  hard  and 
often  disagreeable  work,  poor  pay,  and  the  almost  certain  pros- 
pect of  low  wages  and  a  narrow  field  of  labor  in  the  future. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  boys  of  fair  education  shrink  from  it. 

Another  reason  for  shunning  manual  labor  is  the  ambition  to 
be  rich.  Wealth  is  regarded  as  a  prize  in  a  lottery,  and  the 
laboring  men  always  draw  blanks.  Tho  the  good  workman 
is  much  less  frequently  reduced  to  want  than  those  who  propose 
to  live  by  their  wits,  the  distant  possibility  of  affluence  through 
speculation  or  the  shrewd  management  of  the  labor  of  others, 
the  large  salary  or  the  enormous  fees  of  the  occasional  profes- 
sional man  draw  the  infatuated  crowd  away  as  the  song  of  the 
fabled  siren  did  the  voyagers  of  old.  A  single  ten-thousand- 
dollar  salary  is  liable  to  demoralize  the  entire  youth  of  a 
community. 

The  tyranny  of  trade  unions  is  felt  in  every  trade.  For  the 
purpose  of  increasing  the  value  of  their  own  labor  and  skill, 
craftsmen  combine  to  keep  others  out  of  their  shops.  Hence 
the  sons  of  a  poor  journeyman  often  find  it  impossible  to  learn 
their  father's  trade,  and  are  driven  to  habits  of  idleness  and 


268  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap.  XL 

vice.  By  threats  of  stopping  work  and  reducing  a  factory  to 
enforced  idleness,  the  unions  generally  carry  their  point.  By 
looking  only  at  the  relation  which  they  sustain  to  their  employ- 
ers, and  not  at  their  social  relations,  these  unions  persuade 
the  very  people  whom  they  most  oppress  of  the  justice  of  their 
coursi. 

TRADE   SCHOOLS. 

Let  us  now  see  what  steps  have  been  taken  to  remedy  these 
evils,  and  to  better  adapt  our  system  of  education  to  the  present 
stage  of  civilization. 

Through  the  instrumentality  of  our  international  expositions, 
we  have  become  well  acquainted  with  the  progress  made  else- 
where in  educational  as  well  as  other  matters. 

It  is  more  than  a  hundred  years  since  a  school  of  trades  was 
established  in  Russia.  It  is  not  a  little  strange  that  that  far- 
off  and  strange  people,  whom  we  are  accustomed  to  regard  as 
occupying  a  somewhat  lower  plane  of  civilization,  and  who  seem 
to  have  so  little  in  common  with  other  nations,  should  in 
practical  matters  have  been  twice  our  teacher.  The  special 
inspiration  of  this  paper  came  from  Russia. 

The  introduction  of  machinery,  the  division  of  labor,  and 
the  extensive  competition  incident  to  increased  facilities  for 
commerce,  suggested  both  the  possibility  and  the  necessity  of 
cheapening  the  cost  of  production,  as  well  as  improving  the 
quality  of  the  manufactured  articles,  by  the  systematic  instruc- 
tion of  children  in  the  bare  details  of  a  single  trade,  and  their 
early  introduction  to  the  shops.  Where  the  business  of  a 
community  was  largely  of  one  kind,  the  trade  school  became 
an  important  item  in  the  public  economy. 

Later,  trade  schools  were  established  in  Belgium  and  France, 
and  thence  they  have  spread  throughout  Europe.  During  the 
past  twenty  years,  hundreds  have  been  established.  Their 
effect  upon  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  people  has  been 
very  striking.  Educational  ideas  have  spread  like  wild-fire, 
and  a  new  era  has  dawned  upon  civilization. 

For  the  most  part,  these  trade  schools  have  been  established 
by  government  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  laboring 
classes,  and  for  the  purpose  of  fostering  particular  industries. 


Chap,  XI.]  NATIONAL   INDUSTRIES.  269 

Hence  they  have  been  as  various  as  the  trades  and  occupations 
of  men,  and  may  be  classed  under  the  general  name  of  indus- 
trial schools.  Special  prominence  has,  of  course,  been  given  to 
what  we  have  learned  to  consider  national  industries.  Belgium 
had  schools  for  weaving  ;  France,  for  silks  and  laces  ;  Switzer- 
land, for  watches  and  toys ;  Bohemia,  for  glass-making  and 
pottery  ;  and  so  on. 

In  North  Germany  and  Austria,  industrial  schools  have  been 
more  recently  introduced;  but  they  have  been  on  a  broader 
foundation,  and  with  a  more  philosophical  basis. 

THE   INSUFFICIENCY   OF   POLYTECHNIC    SCHOOLS. 

Austria  had  been  foremost  in  the  establishment  of  its  higher 
polytechnic  schools,  hoping  to  solve  the  problems  of  practical 
education  by  the  training  of  skillful  engineers.  But  this  plan 
failed  to  accomplish  all  that  was  expected.  "  Ten  years  ago," 
says  Mr.  F.  Buisson,  commissioner  of  education  from  France 
to  Vienna  and  Philadelphia,  "  Austria  resembled  an  army  which 
had  at  its  head  a  brilliant  major-general,  very  mediocre  corps 
and  division  officers,  and  no  subordinate  officers  at  all.  Be- 
tween the  highest  and  the  lowest  industries,  as  between  patron 
and  workman,  the  tie  of  union  failed.  The  trade  and  business 
of  the  country  seemed  manacled  for  the  want  of  foremen. 
The  gradual  decrease  of  this  middle  class,  the  6lite  among  work- 
men, indispensable  as  they  are  to  commerce,  agriculture,  manu- 
facturing, and  all  other  kinds  of  industry,  so  stirred  up  public 
opinion,  that  the  government,  urged  and  seconded  by  numerous 
societies,  undertook  to  establish  at  once  a  system  of  institutions 
for  imparting  instruction  in  trades  and  business  to  large  classes 
of  workmen  and  laborers,  and  their  children."  Austria  has  [in 
1878]  at  least  twenty-eight  schools  for  weaving ;  three  schools 
for  lace  ;  eight  schools  for  the  whole  group  of  mechanical  indus- 
tries; a  special  school  for  watchmaking,  at  Vienna;  fifteen 
schools  for  giving  instruction  in  the  arts  of  working  wood, 
marble,  and  ivory ;  six  for  instruction  in  making  toys  ;  four  for 
instruction  in  making  baskets  and  mats  ;  and  seven  for  instruc- 
tion in  making  arms,  and  in  other  metallurgical  industries. 

New  industries  have  actually  been  introduced  through  the 


270  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap,  XL 

' 

agency  of  industrial  schools,  and  a  reasonable  balance  has  been 
maintained  between  different  trades.     It  will  suffice  now  for 
me  to  give  in  detail  the  management  and  course  of  study  in 
one  or  two  of  the  best  of  European  trade  schools. 
I  select  the 

ARTISAN'S  SCHOOL  OF  ROTTERDAM 

in  the  Netherlands,  an*  institution  that  was  fully  represented  at 
the  Philadelphia  Exposition.  I  am  indebted  to  Superintendent 
J.  P.  Wickersham  of  Pennsylvania  for  this  account,  which 
appears  in  his  report  for  1876. 

"  The  Artisan's  School  at  Rotterdam  was  established  in  1869, 
and  is  intended  for  the  sons  of  workmen.  In  order  to  gain 
admission  they  must  be  from  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  be  able  to  read  and  write.  An  elementary  knowledge  of 
arithmetic  is  also  required.  The  number  of  pupils  is  now 
about  two  hundred,  and  is  increasing.  They  pay  a  small  fee, 
and  are  expected  to  remain  in  the  school  for  three  years.  The 
institution  is  both  a  school  and  a  workshop.  In  the  school  are 
taught,  for  a  part  of  the  day,  the  branches  in  which  instruction 
is  usually  given  in  our  common  schools,  together  with  algebra, 
geometry,  elementary  mechanics  and  physics,  drawing,  singing, 
etc.  The  workshops,  in  which  the  remaining  part  of  the  day 
is  spent,  are  arranged  for  different  trades,  and  are  large  and 
comfortable.  There  are  shops  for  each  of  the  following  classes 
of  workmen :  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  metal-workers,  masons, 
stone-cutters,  cabinet-makers,  wood-carvers,  metal-turners,  and 
others  less  important.  .  .  . 

"  The  practical  instruction  ...  is  given  in  the  afternoon,  in 
special  workshops,  by  clever  masters,  where  the  boys  are  taught 
for  carpenters,  smiths,  braziers,  painters,  masons,  stone-cutters, 
cabinet-makers,  wood-carvers,  modelers,  turners,  etc.  .  .  . 

"  It  has  been  shown  that  boys  who  are  occupied  one  half  the 
day  with  books  in  the  school,  and  the  remaining  half  with  tools 
in  the  shops,  make  about  as  rapid  intellectual  progress  as  those 
of  equal  ability  who  spend  the  whole  day  in  study  and  recita- 
tion. And,  in  addition,  the  mechanical  skill  they  acquire  is  of 
immense  value." 


Chap,  XI.]  EUROPEAN  INDUSTRIAL 


THE   APPRENTICE   SCHOOL   OF   THE   CITY   OP   PARIS 

was  opened  in  January,  1873.  The  school  receives  apprentices 
in  iron  and  wood  work.  The  course  covers  three  years.  Stu- 
dents must  be  riot  less  than  thirteen,  nor  more  than  sixteen 
years  old.  Instruction  is  free,  and  all  tools,  books,  and  materials 
are  furnished.  The  entrance  examination  is  in  reading,  writ- 
ing, and  elementary  arithmetic.  Students  enter  the  school 
gate  at  seven  o'clock  A.M.,  and  are  dismissed  at  seven  o'clock 
P.M.  Each  brings  a  morning  and  an  afternoon  lunch.  The 
daily  program,  six  days  in  each  week,  is  as  follows  :  — 

From        7  A.M.  to  8  A.M  .......  Study. 

"            8  A.M.   "  11  A.M  .......  Shop-work. 

"          11  A.M.   "  12  M  .......  Lunch  and  recreation. 

"          12  M.       "  2.30  P.M  .......  Shop-work. 

"       2.30  P.M.    "  3  P.M  .......  Lunch. 

"            3  P.M.    "  7  P.M  .......  Study  and  recitation. 

The  highest,  or  third-year,  class  has  shop-work  from  eight  till 
five  o'clock,  and  but  two  hours  of  recitations  daily. 

The  branches  studied  are  :  arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry, 
geometrical  drawing,  sketching  and  design,  physics,  chemistry, 
descriptive  geometry,  mechanics,  history  and  geography,  book- 
keeping, French,  English,  and  common  law. 

The  shop-work  includes  the  details  of  some  half  dozen  trades. 
The  first  year  is  spent  in  going  the  round  of  the  trades  for  the 
purpose  of  finding  the  aptitudes  of  the  pupils.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  year  the  apprentice,  with  the  advice  of  his 
parents  and  teachers,  decides  upon  a  certain  trade,  to  which  he 
devotes  himself  exclusively  for  two  years.  Articles  are  made 
for  the  market,  and  skillful  students  are  allowed  from  forty 
cents  to  one  dollar  for  their  work  every  fortnight.  The  school 
is  popular,  and  its  patronage  is  increasing.1 


1  I  visited  this  school  in  1885,  and  found  it  adhering  closely  to  its  original  plan. 
Its  director  was  clear,  straightforward,  and  emphatic  as  to  its  scope  and  aim.  The 
boys  were  to  be  mechanics,  and  each  was  to  earn  his  living  by  his  trade  there 
learned.  The  school  was  full,  and  the  government  appropriations  evidently 
generous  and  prompt.  Tho  differing  widely  from  an  American  manual  training 
school,  this  school  and  the  more  elementary  one  on  Rue  Turnefort,  also  in  Paris, 


272  MANUAL   ED UCA TION.  [chap,  XL 

I  have  been  somewhat  minute  in  presenting  the  details  of 
these  schools,  in  order  that  we  might  fairly  consider  the  pro- 
priety of  introducing  similar 

TEADE   SCHOOLS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

There  are  many  who  advocate  this  plan  on  a  grand  scale. 
A  special  committee  of  the  Boston  Social  Science  Association 
reported  in  January,  ,1877,  a  plan  for,  first,  a  "developing 
school,  so  established  and  arranged  as  to  give  all  the  pupils  a 
good  general  idea  of  all  the  different  trades,  arts,  or  callings,  in 
order  that  it  may  be  ascertained,  by  themselves  or  the  super- 
intendent, for  what  kind  of  business  they  have  the  greatest 
natural  genius."  Secondly,  a  series  of  school-shops,  in  each  of 
which  a  single  trade  should  be  taught. 

The  committee  generously  proposed  to  avoid  the  exceedingly 
narrow  range  of  most  actual  workshops,  by  furnishing  their 
school-shops  with  "every  tool  and  appliance  of  every  name  and 
nature  that  is  ever  used  in  any  shop  whatever,  so  that  the 
student  would  become  acquainted  with  every  manner  of  doing 
work,  and  the  management  of  every  kind  of  tool  or  device  ever 
used  in  any  place  or  business  for  doing  work."  Such,  in  brief, 
is  the  plan  seriously  urged  upon  the  city  of  Boston  to  provide 
for  the  training  of  all  the  youth  of  the  city.  The  recommenda- 
tion closes  with  the  cheerful  prediction,  that  "  the  worth  of  the 
work  made  by  the  boys  would  probably  pay  current  expenses 
after  a  very  short  time." 

I  do  not  wish  to  fail  to  appreciate  the  excellent  spirit  and* 
main  purpose  of  that  report,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  a  little 
reflection  will  convince  any  one  that  their  plan  is  thoroughly 
impracticable.  Consider,  only,  the  number  of  "  trades,  arts,  or 
callings  "  in  a  single  American  city  of  half  the  size  of  St.  Louis. 
Are  not  their  names  found  under  every  letter  of  the  alphabet, 


has  had  great  influence  upon  public  education  in  that  city.  All,  or  nearly  all, 
the  free  public  elementary  schools  have  a  species  of  manual  training  in  the  shape 
of  wood-work.  I  visited  some  of  the  best  of  these.  The  shop  arrangements  were 
generally  crowded  and  crude.  Moreover,  tools  were  put  into  hands  much 
younger  than  I  could  approve;  but  the  teachers  appeared  to  favor  it,  finding  it 
wholesome,  stimulating,  and  useful  in  many  ways.  The  exercises  were  generally 
abstract. 


Chap.  XI.]  THE   FOLLY   OF   TEACHING    TRADES.  273 

and  is  not  the  list  increasing  every  year?  As,  for  example, 
bakers,  bankers,  barbers,  basket-makers,  blacksmiths,  book- 
binders, brewers,  brick-layers,  brick-makers,  brush-makers, 
butchers ;  arid,  again,  machinists,  masons,  millers,  mill-wrights, 
miners,  molders,  musicians,  etc.1  It  is  obvious  that  all  such 
occupations  must  be  included,  or  else  they  would  soon  dis- 
appear from  society,  —  all  the  youth  being  directed  into  other 
paths. 

Now,  have  the  committee  ever  sat  down  to  a  serious  estimate 
of  the  cost  of  all  the  trade  shops,  with  their  unequaled  and  com- 
plete equipment  of  tools  and  appliances  ?  I  think  not.  It  is 
perfectly  safe  to  say  that  their  cost  would  far  surpass  the  cost 
of  all  the  school  houses  and  churches  in  the  city. 

But  it  avails  little  to  show  the  absurdity  of  a  proposition 
too  extravagant  to  be  generally  indorsed.  The  question  still 
remains,  Will  trade  schools  flourish  on  American  soil  ?  Would 
a  school  like  the  Artisan's  School  of  Rotterdam,  or  the  Appren- 
tice School  of  Paris,  thrive  in  St.  Louis  ?  I  honestly  think  it 
would,  to  the  extent  of  a  single  school ;  but  I  think  it  much 
less  in  harmony  with  the  free  spirit  of  our  social  organization 
than  the  plan  of  manual  education  I  am  about  to  propose,  and 
I  can  not  recommend  it  as  a  feature  of  our  system  of  public 
education. 

America  has  not  yet  adopted  that  sort  of  industrial  education, 
and  I  doubt  if  she  ever  will :  she  will  do  better. 

TRADES  NOT  TO  BE  TAUGHT  AT  SCHOOL. 

The  first  reason  why  I  think  we  shall  not  wisely  attempt  to* 
teach  the  details  of  actual  trades  is,  that  the  scope  of  a  trade  is 
far  too  narrow  for  general  educational  purposes.  Our  physical 
education  must  be  as  broad  and  liberal  as  our  intellectual. 

There  is  no  breadth  of  manual  training  in  being  a  tailor,  or  a 
painter,  or  a  molder,  or  a  shoemaker ;  and  he  who  learns  either 
trade  is  rarely  able  to  get  out  of  the  rut.  Such  being  the  case, 
both  parents  and  children  often  hesitate  to  choose  a  trade,  when 
the  choice  seems  to  be  for  life.  In  European  society  the  feeling 


1  "  The  trades  are  many,  the  arts  are  few."  —  PROF.  JOHN  D.  RUNKLE. 


274  M A NUAL   ED UCA  TION.  [Chap,  XL 

is  very  different.  The  son  of  a  miner  goes  to  the  mines  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  the  son  of  a  weaver  has  generally  no 
hopes  beyond  the  loom.  Whatever  ambitious  dreams  a  fond 
parent  may  cherish,  or  whatever  visions  may  quicken  the  pulse 
of  the  humble  child  of  a  European  laborer,  they  are  smothered 
and  crushed  under  the  ruthless  wheels  of  an  inexorable  destiny, 
In  America,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  no  limit  to  the  possible 
social  advance  of  the  poor  man's  child.  A  nation  which  bestows 
its  highest  honors  on  a  flat-boat  man  and  a  rail-splitter  of  the 
prairie,  and  associates  with  him  a  man  who  never  went  to 
school,  and  whose  only  teacher  was  his  wife,  can  not  expect  its 
sons  to  fetter  themselves  by  a  trade  which  threatens  to  tie  them 
down  to  a  life  of  toil  and  obscurity. 

To  the  man  of  only  ordinary  enterprise  and  force,  the  shackles 
of  a  trade  early  learned  and  closely  followed  for  a  few  years 
may  become  as  strong  as  steel,  and,  like  the  fetters  of  a  slave, 
bind  him  to  an  occupation  he  would  flee,  but  can  not.  We 
have  all  seen  men  who  could  do  one  thing  and  nothing  else,  — 
not  even  if  their  lives  depended  on  it.  Their  special  education 
had  been  begun  too  early,  and  limited  to  the  absolute  needs  of 
the  trade.  Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  am  in  favor  of  having 
nearly  every  young  man  learn  a  trade,  or  rather  the  essential 
elements  of  many  trades ;  but  I  would  not  have  him  learn  a 
single  specialty  so  early  and  so  exclusively  as  to  learn  nothing 
else.  The  objection  to  a  self-supporting  trade  school  has 
additional  force  when  we  remember  that  the  standard  in  a 
trade  is  determined  by  the  local  demand  for  the  products  of 
that  trade.  A  shop  which  manufactures  for  the  market,  and 
expects  a  revenue  from  the  sale  of  its  products,  is  necessarily 
confined  to  salable  work;  and  a  systematic  and  progressive 
series  of  lessons  is  impossible.  If  the  object  of  the  shop  is 
education,  a  student  should  be  allowed  to  discontinue  any.  task 
or  process  the  moment  he  has  learned  to  do  it  well.  If  the 
shop  is  to  make  money,  the  students  will  be  kept  at  work 
on  what  they  can  do  best,  at  the  expense  of  breadth  and 
versatility. 

Prof.  Francis  W.  Newman  of  England  said  in  1872:  "To 
cultivate  the  eye  and  hand,  in  and  by  the  use  of  various  tools, 


Chap.  XI.]  TYPICAL    TOOLS  AND   PROCESSES.  275 

is  of  endless  industrial  value.  Some  one  has  yet  to  develop  a 
systematic  teaching  of  what  may  be  called  carpenter's  drawing. 
The  more  various  the  cultivation  of  the  hand  and  the  eye,  the 
more  efficient  will  be  the  laborer  in  any  special  work.  Definite 
trades  can  not  be  taught  in  a  national  school  system ;  but  the 
faculties  maybe  trained  which  will  be  serviceable  in  all  trades." 

It  is  claimed  that  students  take  more  interest  in  working 
upon  something,  which,  when  finished,  has  intrinsic  value,  than 
they  do  in  abstract  exercises.  This  is  quite  possible,  and  proper 
use  should  be  made  of  this  fact,  — just  as  it  is  well  to  stimulate 
the  interest  of  a  child  studying  arithmetic,  by  reckoning  up  the 
cost  of  the  daily  supply  of  meat  and  vegetables,  or  by  com- 
puting the  cost  of  material  and  labor  put  into  a  dress ;  but, 
if  all  education  were  limited  to  such  practical  examples,  our 
schools  would  be  useless.  The  idea  of  a  school  is,  that  chil- 
dren are  to  be  graded  and  taught  in  classes ;  the  result  aimed 
at  being,  not  at  all  the  objective  product  or  finished  work,  but 
the  intellectual  and  physical  growth  which  comes  from  the 
exercise.  Of  what  use  is  the  elaborate  solution  in  algebra, 
the  minute  drawing,  or  the  faithful  translation,  after  it  is  well 
done  ?  Do  you  not  erase  the  one,  and  burn  the  other,  with  the 
clear  conviction  that  the  only  thing  of  value  was  the  discipline, 
and  that  that  is  indestructible  ? 

Now,  should  we  not  proceed  in  manual  education  on  precisely 
the  same  plan  ?  Should  we  not  abstract  all  the  mechanical  processes 
and  manual  arts  and  typical  tools  of  the  trades  and  occupations  of 
men,  and  arrange  a  systematic  course  of  instruction  in  the  same, 
and  then  incorporate  it  into  our  system  of  education?  Thus, 
without  teaching  any  one  trade,  we  teach  the  essential  me- 
chanical principles  of  all.  The  thousands  of  tools  used  in  the 
arts  are  but  modifications  of  a  few  simple  elements.  They 
differ  in  degree  more  than  in  kind,  and  in  the  extent  to  which 
different  kinds  of  tools  are  incorporated  into  the  same  complex 
machine.  The  universal  tools  are  scarcety  more  than  a  half 
dozen  in  number. 

I  am  aware  that  some  will  think  that  I  aim  at  a  sort  of 
"  jack-of-all-trades,  but  master  of  none."  I  will  only  remark 
that  a  good  jack-of-all-trades  may  easily  become  master  of  any. 


276  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap.  XL 

Some  of  you  will  recall  the  glowing  admiration  with  which 
Theodore  Winthrop,  the  brilliant  and  ill-fated  young  writer  of 
the  New  York  Seventh  Regiment,  spoke  of  the  skill  and  handi- 
craft of  the  Eighth  Massachusetts  Regiment.  The  two  regi- 
ments went  together  to  the  early  defense  of  Washington,  in 
April,  1861.  The  Yankees  had  captured  a  ferry-boat  near  Bal- 
timore, manned  the  engines,  and  steamed  to  Annapolis,  saving 
it  and  "  Old  Ironsides '-'  from  capture.  They  found  the  railroad 
track  leading  to  Washington  torn  up. 

"  'Wanted,  experienced  track-layers  ! '  was  the  word  along  the  file.  All 
at  once  the  line  of  the  road  became  densely  populated  with  experienced 
track-layers  fresh  from  Massachusetts. 

"  Presto,  change  !  The  rails  were  relaid,  spiked,  and  the  roadway  leveled 
and  better  ballasted  than  any  road  I  ever  saw  south  of  Mason  and  Dixori's 
line.  '  We  must  leave  a  good  job  for  these  folks  to  model  after,'  says  the 
Massachusetts  Eighth. 

"  A  track  without  a  train  is  as  useless  as  a  gun  without  a  man.  Train 
and  engine  must  be  had.  '  Uncle  Sam's  mails  and  troops  can  not  be  stopped 
another  minute,'  our  energetic  friends  conclude.  So  ...  in  marches 
Massachusetts  to  the  station.  *  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  want 
rolling-stock  for  the  use  of  the  Union/  they  said,  —  or  words  to  that  effect. 

"The  engine  —  a  frowsy  machine,  at  the  best  —  had  been  purposely 
disabled. 

"Here  appeared  the  deus  ex  macliina,  Charles  Homans,  Beverly  Light 
Guard,  Company  E,  Eighth  Massachusetts  Regiment. 

"  That  is  the  man,  name  and  titles  in  full,  and  he  deserves  well  of  his 
country. 

"He  took  a  quiet  squint  at  the  engine,  —  it  was  helpless  as  a  boned 
turkey,  —  and  he  found  '  Charles  Homans,  his  mark,'  written  all  over  it. 

"  The  old  rattletrap  was  an  old  friend.  Charles  Homans  had  had  a  share 
in  building  it.  The  machine  and  the  man  said,  '  How  d'ye  do  ? '  at  once. 
Homans  called  for  a  gang  of  engine-builders.  Of  course  they  swarmed  out 
of  the  ranks.  They  passed  their  hands  over  the  locomotive  a  few  times,  and 
presently  it  was  ready  to  whistle  and  wheeze,  and  rumble  and  gallop,  as  if  no 
traitor  had  ever  tried  to  steal  the  go  and  the  music  out  of  it.  ... 

"  We  of  the  New  York  Seventh  afterwards  concluded  that  whatever  was 
needed  in  the  way  of  skill  or  handicraft  could  be  found  among  those  brother 
Yankees.  They  were  the  men  to  make  armies  of.  They  could  tailor  for 
themselves,  shoe  themselves,  do  their  own  blacksmithing,  gunsmithing,  and 
all  other  work  that  calls  for  sturdy  arms  and  nimble  fingers.  In  fact,  I 
have  such  profound  confidence  in  the  universal  accomplishment  of  the 
Massachusetts  Eighth  that  I  have  no  doubt  if  the  order  were,  l  Poets  to  the 


Chap,  XL]  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  EIGHTH.  277 

front ! '  *  Painters,  present  arms  ! '  '  Sculptors,  charge  bayonets ! '  a  baker's 
dozen  out  of  every  company  would  respond."  (Atlantic  Monthly,  vol.  vii., 
pp.  747,  750.) 

When  Winthrop  said,  "  Such  are  the  men  to  make  armies 
of,"  he  might  have  added,  Such  are  the  men  to  do  any  thing 
with, — to  span  mighty  rivers,  to  subdue  the  wilderness  011 
mountain  and  plain,  to  cultivate  literature,  science,  and  art; 
in  short,  to  spread  the  blessings  of  civilization. 

THE   RUSSIAN   METHOD. 

To  Russia  belongs  the  honor  of  having  solved  the  problem  of 
tool-instruction.  Others  had  admitted  that  practice  in  using 
tools  and  in  testing  materials  should  go  hand  in  hand  with 
theory ;  but  Russia  first  conceived  and  tested  the  idea  of  ana- 
lyzing tool  practice  into  its  elements,  and  teaching  the  elements 
abstractly  to  a  class.  In  their  hands,  manual  tool-education 
has  become  a  science.  While  recognizing  the  lead  of  Russia, 
it  is  necessary  to  recognize,  next,  the  very  valuable  contribu- 
tions to  progress  in  this  direction  made  by  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology,  under  the  guidance  and  inspiration  of 
Prest.  John  D.  Runkle.  His  very  able  reports  give  in  full  the 
history  of  the  growth  and  working  of  their  School  of  Mechanic 
Arts,  and  demonstrate  fully  the  general  practicability  of  the 
method  employed. 

"  The  Imperial  Technical  School  of  Moscow  was  the  first  to 
show  that  it  is  best  to  teach  an  art  before  attempting  to  apply 
it ;  that  the  mechanic  arts  can  be  taught  to  classes  through  a 
graded  series  of  examples  [or  exercises],  by  the  usual  labora- 
tory methods  which  we  employ  in  teaching  the  sciences. 
Making  the  art  —  and  not  the  trade  —  fundamental,  and  then 
teaching  the  art  by  purely  educational  methods,  is  the  Russian 
system.  The  system  is  instruction  in  the  arts  for  the  purpose 
of  construction,  and  not  construction  for  the  purpose  of 
instruction." 

Here  is  the  point  where  the  best  manual  training  schools 
differ  radically  from  the  ordinary  system  of  apprenticeship.  In 
the  latter  the  learner  adquires  the  "  arts  "  involved  in  a  piece 


278  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [ Chap.  XI. 

of  work  incidentally,  and  generally  without  a  conscious  analy- 
sis ;  in  the  former,  the  u  arts  "  are  made  the  direct  object  of  his 
study  and  attention.  Their  subsequent  combination  (which 
may  or  may  not  follow  in  his  school  experience)  is  a  very 
simple  matter. 

Mr.  Runkle  illustrates  this  point  as  follows  :  "  Every  one  is 
well  aware  that  the  successful  study  of  any  art  —  free-hand  and 
linear  drawing,  or  music  instrumental  or  vocal,  or  painting  — 
is  only  attainable  when  the  first  steps  are  strictly  subject  to  the 
laws  of  gradation  and  succession ;  when  the  student  adheres  to 
a  definite  method,  thus  surmounting,  little  by  little,  and  by 
certain  degrees,  the  difficulties  to  be  encountered.  All  the  arts 
just  named  possess  a  method  of  study  which  has  been  well 
worked  out  and  defined,  since  they  have  long  constituted  a  part 
of  the  education  of  the  well-instructed  classes.  They  have, 
therefore,  become  subject  to  scientific  analysis  and  objects  of 
investigation,  with  the  view  of  defining  those  conditions  which 
should  render  the  study  of  them  as  easy  and  well  regulated  as 
possible." 

Let  us,  now,  see  how  this  idea  will  apply  to  tool-work  upon 
metals  or  wood.  Every  manufactured  article,  whether  it  be 
a  machine,  or  a  piece  of  furniture,  or  a  bridge,  consists  of  a 
combination  of  a  small  number  of  typical  forms  or  shapes  more 
or  less  modified.  Take,  for  instance,  a  piece  of  furniture. 
The  joints  are  of  the  simplest  character,  —  a  plain  mortise  and 
tenon,  or  bored  holes  and  cylindrical  pins,  all  glued.  The 
surfaces  are  either  plane  or  regularly  curved.  The  most  diffi- 
cult point  is  accuracy  in  the  angles,  which  is  gained  by  using 
the  try-square  and  working  to  fine  lines.  If  the  furniture  is 
carved,  you  will  find  on  analysis  that  that  work  is  the  result  of 
a  very  few  elements  variously  repeated  and  combined. 

It  is  just  so  of  a  watch  or  a  steam-engine,  so  far  as  essential 
shapes  of  the  different  parts,  both  in  the  fixed  frame-work  and 
in  the  moving  members,  are  concerned ;  they  are  very  few  in 
kind,  the  apparent  variety  consisting  mainly  in  the  size  of  the 
pieces.  Now,  is  it  not  the  most  reasonable  thing  in  the  world 
to  teach  these  mechanical  elements  separately,  abstracted  from 
the  machines  into  whose  construction  they  enter  ?  When  the 


Chap.  XL]  COMBINING    SIMPLE  ELEMENTS.  279 

young  apprentice  has  been  through  with  the  alphabet  of 
mechanical  elements,  so  that  in  each  case  he  knows  what  tools 
to  use,  and  is  able  to  execute  the  work  with  precision,  you  may 
be  sure  he  is  able  to  construct  a  machine  from  a  given  design, 
altho  he  never  has  done  so.  When  you  learned  to  write 
(to  illustrate  this  point  still  further),  you  began  with  straight 
lines,  then  single  curves  and  hooks,  then  double  curves  and 
ovals.  These  are  the  elements  of  penmanship.  You  next 
learned  how  to  combine  these  elements  to  form  the  twenty-six 
letters  of  our  alphabet.  When  you  had  learned  to  combine 
these  letters  into  words,  you  had  mastered  the  art  of  penman- 
ship, even  if  you  had  never  written  a  sentence.  Outside  the 
three  lessons  I  have  mentioned,  there  is  absolutely  nothing  to 
be  learned.  You  may  gain  facility  and  improve  constantly  in 
the  execution  of  these  steps,  but  nothing  more.  On  the  other 
hand,  I  have  seen  persons  who  could  write  their  names,  but  noth- 
ing else.  They  had  committed  to  memory,  with  much  patient 
labor,  the  complicated  scrawls  which  they  had  been  told  rep- 
resented their  names ;  and  the  utter  lack  of  discrimination 
with  which  they  reproduced  them  showed  that  they  knew 
nothing  of  the  significance  of  particular  lines  and  flourishes. 
These  persons  typify  the  extreme  utilitarian  wing  of  educators, 
who  would  teach  nothing  not  directly  productive  of  useful 
work.  Why  should  such  ever  write  "  Evil  communications 
corrupt  good  manners,"  when  they  are  likely  to  be  called  upon 
for  nothing  beyond  signing  their  names?  My  illustration  fairly 
shows  the  difference  between  an  art  and  a  mere  trade. 

Having  reached  a  philosophical  method  of  manual  education, 
our  next  step  is  to  arrange  the  elements  into  groups,  and  grade 
them  in  the  groups  according  to  the  materials  to  be  wrought 
upon,  and  the  tools  to  be  used. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  parallel  and  simultaneously 
with  the  above  runs  a  corresponding  course  of  free-hand  and 
mechanical  drawing,  the  first  and  most  important  element  of 
manual  education. 

Much  thought  has  been  given  to  working  out  and  properly 
grading  the  elements  under  each  of  these  groups.  Prest. 
Runkle's  paper  in  the  Forty-first  Annual  Report  of  the  Massa- 


280  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap.  XI 

chusetts  Board  of  Education  gives  complete  their  courses  in 
vise-work  and  forging.  The  details  of  the  other  groups  have 
not  yet  been  fully  worked  out. 

The  first  course  in  vise-work  consists  of  twenty-two  designs 
or  examples  in  filing,  chipping,  and  sawing  steel,  cast  and 
wrought  iron,  to  be  worked  out  separately  by  each  student. 
The  time  allowed  for  the  work  is  thirty  lessons  of  four  hours 
each,  or  one  hundred  and  twenty  hours  in  all.  Although  this 
is  equal  to  only  twelve  days  of  ten  hours  each,  the  work  of  the 
students  is  pronounced  by  a  committee  from  the  State  of  Rhode 
Island  to  be  superior  to  that  of  the  ordinary  apprentice  of  two 
years'  standing. 

I  can  not  venture  upon  more  than  a  very  brief  analysis  of  this 
work  as  done  by  a  single  student,  and  kindly  sent  us  by  Prest. 
Runkle.  Each  piece  was  executed  with  the  most  suitable  hand- 
tools,  and  the  work  is  so  graded  that  in  turn  all  the  tools  are 
used.  Each  exercise  has  a  new  feature,  but  depends,  to  a 
certain  extent,  upon  what  has  gone  before.  Each  piece  is 
stamped  with  a  number  indicating  the  degree  of  excellence  in 
the  workmanship.  The  class  is  told  beforehand  just  what  the 
points  to  be  aimed  at  are ;  and  the  relative  importance  of 
different  points,  in  the  critical  estimate  of  the  work  by  the 
instructor,  is  definitely  shown.  This  clear  analysis  of  all  the 
points  in  an  exercise  makes  each  workman  a  good  judge  of 
workmanship.  The  careful  analysis  of  each  piece  of  filing  given 
by  Mr.  Walberg,  the  designer  of  the  exercise,  accompanied  by 
the  heliotype-print  illustrations,  constitutes  a  very  valuable  con- 
tribution to  educational  literature. 

AN   EXERCISE   IN   FILING. 

Take,  for  example,  No.  4.  The  blank  furnished  each  member 
of  the  class  consists  of  a  flat  piece  of  cast-iron  planed  on  two 
opposite  faces,  with  a  round  hole  through  it.  The  tools  furnished 
are  six  files  (each  for  a  special  purpose),  and  two  try-squares,  — 
one,  four  and  one-half  inch ;  the  other,  one  and  one-half  inch. 
The  instructor  says  to  his  class,  who  are  arranged  in  the  filing 
and  chipping  shop,  each  with  his  complement  of  tools,  — 

"  This  piece  is  to  be  made  square  and  true  around  the  edges ; 


Chap.  XL]  A    LESSON   IN   FILING.  281 

and  the  round  hole  is  to  be  made  a  square  one,  according  to  the 
lines  I  have  marked  on  each  plate.  It  is  designed  to  teach 
the  use  of  two  new  kinds  of  files,  in  addition  to  extending  the 
use  of  those  you  have  already  had,  and  at  the  same  time  to  show 
you  how  to  get  the  outside  edges  square  with  each  other  without 
the  aid  of  lines,  using  lines  only  where  the  new  files  are  needed. 
One  side  or  face  of  the  piece  is  to  be  draw-filed  (or  smoothed) 
in  finishing  it,  thus  removing  the  lines  marking  the  boundary 
of  the  square  hole,  provided  the  hole  is  finished  accurately  to 
the  line,  so  that  its  removal  will  not  destroy  the  evidence  of 
careless  work. 

"  Twenty-five  per  cent  will  be  allowed  for  filing  the  square 
hole  accurately  to  the  line  on  each  face. 

"Fifteen  per  cent  will  be  allowed  for  good  corners  on  the 
inside.  You  will  test  your  pieces  with  the  small  try-square. 
This  point  involves  true  plane  faces  to  the  holes. 

"  Ten  per  cent  will  be  allowed  for  making  an  outside  edge 
square  with  an  adjacent  edge. 

"  Twenty  per  cent  for  making  all  four  edges  square  with  each 
other. 

"  Ten  per  cent  for  careful  removal  of  all  cross-marks. 

"  Ten  per  cent  for  edges  straight  lengthwise. 

"  Ten  per  cent  for  edges  straight  crosswise. 

"Total,  one  hundred  per  cent.  The  time  allowed  for  this 
work  is  four  hours.  Begin  with  the  square  hole.  Secure  the 
blank  in  the  vise,  and  use  first  the  six-inch  pillar  bastard 
file." 

The  instructor  then  explains  the  features  of  the  new  tools, 
and  the  method  of  using  them.  He  also  reminds  them  of  their 
former  exercises,  and  shows  how  they  enter  into  the  present 
one.  All  students  then  go  on  with  their  work  for  four  hours, 
or  until  the  task  is  done  ;  the  instructor  giving  such  individual 
assistance  as  may  be  necessary.  The  instructor  in  filing  and 
chipping  found  it  possible  to  teach  a  class  of  thirty-two  boys, 
whose  ages  ranged  from  fifteen  years  upwards. 

I  have  pictured  a  single  exercise  ;  and,  with  obvious  changes, 
you  can  picture  all.  The  same  principle  runs  through  the  use 
of  all  kinds  of  tools  and  materials.  This  is  the  Russian  method 


282  M. A NUAL    EDUCA TION.  [Chap.  XI. 

in  practice.  The  visible  results  serve  only  to  illustrate  the  train- 
ing, unless  it  be  to  use  them  as  blanks  for  another  exercise. 

Do  you  think  young  men  would  be  interested  in  such  work? 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  are  much  interested.  Every  exercise 
has  something  new  in  it.  A  new  surface  is  to  be  formed,  or 
a  new  feature  of  some  sort  is  to  be  added,  and  the  interest 
is  fresh.  The  Rhode  Island  committee  already  referred  to 
report  that  they  "  found  a  class  of  thirty-two  boys  at  work  on 
a  chipping  exercise,  with  hammer  and  chisel,  under  the  instruc- 
tion and  constant  supervision  of  an  expert  mechanic,  employed 
as  teacher  of  practical  mechanics ;  and  it  was  easy  to  perceive 
that  the  class  instruction  in  this  branch  of  education  was  as 
systematic  and  simple  as  the  teaching  of  a  class  in  arithmetic  or 
grammar  in  one  of  our  best  public  schools." 

An  exceedingly  interesting  and  instructive  experiment  of  the 
Russian  method  of  tool-instruction  was  made  in  Boston,  Mass., 
during  the  past  two  winters,  by  the 

INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL   ASSOCIATION. 

The  Association  had  discussed  the  importance  and  the  feasi- 
bility of  making  manual  education  a  part  of  public  instruction. 
The  first  winter,  they  organized  an  evening  class  of  thirty-two 
boys  in  wood-carving.  Their  ages  ranged  from  twelve  to  six- 
teen. About  half  of  them  were  still  attending  the  day-school, 
the  others  were  employed  in  stores  and  offices.  A  course  of 
twenty-four  lessons  in  wood-carving  was  prepared  with  special 
reference  to  securing  the  greatest  amount  of  instruction  with 
the  least  expenditure  of  material.  It  was  not  designed  to  make 
finished  workmen,  but  to  take  advantage  of  the  natural  inclina- 
tion towards  handicraft.  The  tools  used  were  three  in  number, 
—  the  flat  chisel,  the  gouge,  and  a  veining-tool.  Blocks  of  white 
wood  six  inches  long,  three  inches  wide,  and  one  and  one-half 
inches  thick  were  the  material  worked  upon.  Each  boy  had 
his  place  at  a  work-bench  four  feet  long  by  two  and  one-half 
feet  in  width.  Each  had  a  vise  with  wooden  jaws  and  an  iron 
screw ;  a  drawer  with  lock  and  key,  in  which  the  tools  were 
kept ;  and  a  gas-burner  with  a  movable  arm.  The  report  of  the 
committee  in  charge  gives  heliotypes  of  the  various  finished 


Chap,  XI,]  A    BOSTON  EXPERIMENT  IN  1877.  283 

blocks.  Mr.  Chaney  says,  "It  will  be  noticed  that  no  specific 
article  was  made  in  the  school.  The  variety  of  manipulations 
and  change  of  patterns  were  enough  to  maintain  the  freshness 
of  the  scholars'  interest,  without  introducing  the  manufacture 
of  any  articles  of  trade  or  commerce.  The  object  of  the 
school  was,  not  to  educate  cabinet-makers,  or  artisans  of  any 
special  name,  but  to  give  the  boys  an  acquaintance  with  certain 
manipulations  which  would  be  equally  useful  in  many  different 
trades.  ^  Instruction,  not  construction,  was  the  purpose  of  the 
school.'  " 

The  success  of  this  experiment  led  the  committee  to  express 
the  belief  that  it  would  be  easy  to  establish,  in  connection  with 
all  the  public  grammar  schools  (corresponding  to  what  are 
called  in  this  city  branch  high  schools),  an  annex  for  elementary 
instruction  in  the  use  of  the  half-dozen  universal  tools ;  i.e.,  the 
hammer,  saw,  plane,  chisel,  file,  and  square.  "  Three  or  four 
hours  a  week,  for  one  year  only  of  the  grammar-school  course, 
would  be  enough  to  give  the  boys  that  intimacy  with  tools,  and 
that  encouragement  to  the  inborn  inclination  to  handicraft, 
and  that  guidance  to  its  use,  for  want  of  which  so  many  young 
men  now  drift  into  overcrowded  and  uncongenial  occupations, 
or  lapse  into  idleness  or  vice." 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  the  first  experiment,  the  Asso- 
ciation decided  to  adopt  for  their  second  experiment  a  course 
of  instruction  in  the  use  of  the  common  wood-working  hand- 
tools.  As  I  have  said,  the  Russian  system  involves  class  in- 
struction ;  the  individual  needs  nothing,  unless  it  be  repetition 
and  caution.  The  Association  believed  that  the  general  instruc- 
tion could  be  given  best  by  a  carefully  printed  text,  precisely 
setting  forth  every  detail  essential  to  the  best  performance  of 
each  manipulation.  They  also  determined  that  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  text  every  thing  that  forethought,  study,  and  expe- 
rience could  do  should  be  done.  They  therefore  employed  the 
best  service  which  they  could  command  in  the  preparation  and 
critical  revision  of  a  series  of  primary  lessons  in  the  use  of  wood- 
working hand-tools,  to  be  followed  by  a  similar  series  of  more 
advanced  lessons  in  applications  of  these  tools  to  the  production 
of  typical  forms  in  carpentry  and  joinery. 


284  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap,  XL 

The  first  eleven  lessons  are  as  follows :  — 

1.  Use  of  the  cross-cut  saw,  sawing  to  line. 

2.  Use  of  the  hammer,  striking  square  blows. 

3.  Use  of  the  splitting-saw,  sawing  to  line. 

4.  Use  of  the  jack-plane,  smoothing  rough  surfaces. 

5.  Use  of  the  hammer,  driving  nails  vertically. 

6.  Use  of  the  splitting-saw,  sawing  at  exact   angles   to   upper 

surface. 

7.  Use  of  the  jack-plane,  setting  the  plane-iron. 

8.  Use  of  the  hammer,  driving  nails  horizontally. 

9.  Use  of  the  bit  and  brace,  boring  in  exact  positions. 

10.  Use  of  the  mallet  and  chisel,  mortising. 

11.  Use  of   the  jack-plane,  producing  surfaces  which  intersect  at 

exact  angles. 

Auxiliary  drawing  exercises  in  laying  out  the  work  by 
measuring  and  lining  are  incidental  to  all  the  lessons. 

MANUAL   TRAINING   IN  THE   POLYTECHNIC    SCHOOL    OF 
WASHINGTON   UNIVERSITY. 

I  have  given  full  accounts  of  the  educational  experience  of 
Boston,  for  the  reason  that  it-  has  really  taken  the  lead,  so  far  as 
this  country  is  concerned,  in  working  out  the  problem  of  manual 
education,  and  because  there  has  lacked  neither  the  money  nor 
the  students  necessary  to  give  the  method  the  fullest  possible 
test;  and  yet  I  could  have  quoted  our  own  experience,  and 
made  a  fair  showing.  St.  Louis  is  not  without  interest  in  this 
matter ;  and  we  have  not  failed  to  find  those  who  were  both  able 
and  willing  to  make  it  possible  for  us  to  break  ground,  as 
it  were,  in  this  new  field  of  labor  and  study.  Full  twenty 
years  ago  some  half-score  of  the  noble  men  of  this  city  were 
filled  with  the  idea  of  establishing  here  a  polytechnic  school, 
which  should  be  truly  and  literally  such.  In  their  generous 
plan  the  many  arts  were  not  only  to  be  scientifically  expounded 
by  able  professors,  but  they  were  to  be  illustrated  by  practical 
machines  and  expert  workmen.  I  do  but  simple  justice  to  Col. 
John  O'Fallon,  John  How,  Gerard  B.  Allen,  Ralph  Sellew, 
James  B.  Eads,  Giles  F.  Filley,  and  others  whom  I  am  unable 
to  name,  when  I  say,  that,  in  contributing  to  the  means  where- 


Chap.  XL]  THE  FIRST  POLYTECHNIC  BUILDING.  285 

with  to  erect  that  magnificent  polytechnic  building  on  the 
corner  of  Chestnut  and  Seventh  Streets,  it  was  their  ambition 
to  do  just  what  we  find  it  possible  to  do  now  with  less  than  one- 
tenth  the  money.  Undertaken  with  the  highest  motives,  but 
with  no  clearly  defined  plan,  the  enterprise  was  virtually  a 
failure.  The  building  was  begun  before  the  war ;  at  different 
times  the  work  was  suspended,  and  then  renewed  at  enormous 
cost.  Nine  long  years  were  consumed  ere  the  building  was 
finished,  and  then  it  was  found  totally  un suited  to  the  use 
intended.  These  plain  words  are  not  said  in  criticism  ;  for  the 
noble  aims  and  devotion  of  John  How,  and  the  generous  hand 
of  Col.  O'Fallon,  call  only  for  a  tribute  of  gratitude.  They  and 
their  co-laborers  were  struggling  to  realize  an  idea  which  it  is 
our  privilege  to-day  to  carry  to  successful  issue. 

For  the  last  five  years  we  have  had  a  fair  workshop,  in  which 
the  students  of  this  polytechnic  school  have  worked  to  a  certain 
extent ;  but  only  during  the  present  year  have  we  been  able  to 
work  with  much  system.  With  the  aid  of  our  staunch  friend 
Mr.  Gottlieb  Conzelman,  we  fitted  up  during  last  summer  a 
wood-working  shop  with  work-benches  and  vises  for  eighteen 
students;  a  second  shop  for  vise-work  upon  metals,  and  for 
machine-work ;  and  a  third,  with  a  single  outfit  of  blacksmith's 
tools.  During  the  last  few  months  systematic  instruction  has 
been  given  to  different  classes  in  all  these  shops.  Special  atten- 
tion has  been  paid  to  the  use  of  wood-working  hand-tools,  to 
wood-turning,  and  to  filing.  The  age  of  the  students  has 
ranged  from  fifteen  to  about  twenty-two.  None  of  the  stu- 
dents have  had  much  experience,  and  of  course  you  can  not 
expect  nicely  finished  work.  The  specimens  are  not  shown  on 
account  of  the  excellence  of  the  workmanship,  but  because 
they  illustrate  our  method. 

The  amount  of  time  given  to  shop-work  has  generally  been 
only  four  hours  per  week, — two  lessons  of  two  hours  each. 
The  junior  class  in  mechanical  engineering  gave  eight  hours. 
Shop-work  has  been  done  in  the  afternoon,  and  there  has  been 
no  less  work  required  in  the  morning  recitations  than  formerly. 
Tho  four  hours  per  week,  which  is  equivalent  to  two  days 
per  month,  seems  too  small  an  allowance  to  be  of  much  practi- 


286  MANUAL   ED UCA TION.  [chap.  XL 

cal  value,  four  years  would,  on  the  present  plan,  suffice  to  give 
an  excellent  idea  of  the  uses  of  all  our  tools,  the  properties  of 
materials,  and  considerable  manual  skill.  I  have  yet  to  hear 
from  the  parent  who  does  not  approve  of  our  plan  of  shop-work. 
Our  running  expenses  in  the  shop  are  now  about  a  hundred 
dollars  per  month ;  but  we  could,  without  perceptible  increase 
of  cost,  double  our  present  number  of  students.  No  extra  fee 
has  been  charged  on  -account  of  shop-work ;  but,  without  per- 
manent endowment,  this  arrangement  could  not  long  continue, 
The  experience  of  this  year  has  been  invaluable  to  us ;  and  we 
are  now  clear  in  our  conviction  that  a  series  of  commodious 
instruction-shops,  well  furnished  with  machinery  and  tools,  and 
so  liberally  endowed  as  to  require  only  a  nominal  fee  from 
students,  would  be  of  inestimable  value  to  the  youth  of  this 
city. 

It  is  well  understood  that  many  students  can  not  wisely  un- 
dertake the  full  course  of  intellectual  study  we  have  laid  down 
for  regular  classes.  A  decided  aptitude  for  handicraft  is  not 
unfrequently  coupled  with  a  strong  aversion  to,  and  unfitness 
for,  abstract  and  theoretical  investigations.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  in  such  cases  more  time  should  be  spent  in  the  shop, 
and  less  in  the  lecture  and  recitation  room.  The  adoption  of 
this  principle  would  soon  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  class  in 
what  might  be  called  the  "  Mechanical  Course,"  whose  students 
should  work  in  the  shop  daily  two  or  three  hours,  following  at 
the  same  time  a  somewhat  abridged  course  of  study. 

It  is  time  for  me  to  close.  Much  could  be  said  in  regard  to 
the  extension  of  manual  education  to  all  the  grades  of  our 
schools,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest ;  but  I  must  be  brief. 
The  manual  education,  which  begins  in  the  kindergarten, 
before  the  children  are  able  to  read  a  word,  should  never  cease. 
The  physical  powers  of  a  child  develop  first,  and  their  cultiva- 
tion should  at  least  keep  pace  with  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  his  mental  faculties.  Just  how  we  shall  supply  the 
missing  links  in  the  chain  which  joins  the  kindergarten  with 
the  fully  equipped  shops  of  the  polytechnic  school,  we  can  not 
with  certainty  suggest.  The  problem  is  an  open  one,  and  thou- 
sands of  earnest  and  intelligent  educators  are  devoting  them- 


Chap.  XL]  A    RATIONAL   EDUCATION.  287 

selves  to  its  solution.  I  trust  that  St.  Louis  will  in  this,  as  in 
many  other  educational  matters,  contribute  largely.  At  present 
we  have  drawing  and  penmanship,  both  of  which  are  essentially 
manual.  To  this  I  would  add,  tinting  with  a  brush,  mixing 
colors,  weaving  and  braiding,  molding  of  tiles  and  the  making 
of  mosaics,  models  of  geometrical  and  natural  forms.  Girls 
should  be  taught  needle-craft,  and,  in  the  higher  grades,  the 
elements  of  cooking. 

Suppose  a  visitor  from  another  planet  were  to  visit  us  in  our 
homes  and  in  our  places  of  business.  Suppose  he  looked  into 
the  whole  economy  of  our  domestic  and  social  lives,  and  then 
was  requested  to  map  out  the  best  course  of  instruction  for 
both  girls  and  boys.  Do  you  think  he  would  fail  to  put  early 
on  the  list  for  girls  the  proper  preparation  of  food  for  the  table  ? 
Do  we  not  say/ooc?,  clothing,  and  shelter  are  the  three  essentials 
of  physical  existence?  Then,  let  food  come  boldly  into  our 
program.  Let  systematic  instruction  be  given  in  the  all- 
important  art  of  cooking.  And  would  not  our  visitor  insist 
that  our  boys  should  be  taught  to  supplement  their  feeble 
strength  by  the  all-powerful  tools  with  which  we  subdue  all 
the  kingdoms  of  nature  ?  At  ten  years,  give  boys  knives,  and 
gouges,  and  hammers,  and  saws,  and  squares.  Let  them  carve 
in  soft  wood  and  plaster,  and  learn  to  strike  true  and  square 
blows.  Carlyle  says  the  choicest  present  you  can  make  a  child 
is  a  tool.  "  Be  it  knife  or  gun,  for  construction  or  destruction ; 
either  way  it  is  for  work,  for  change."  At  twelve  they  are 
ready  to  use  the  plane,  the  chisel,  and  the  whole  chest  of 
tools. 

Until  you  reach  machine-tools,  the  shop  outfit  may  be  of  the 
simplest  character.  Benches,  vises,  and  a  half  dozen  tools  for 
each  student  in  a  class  are  all  that  you  need ;  the  whole  cost 
would  hardly  exceed  that  of  the  furniture  in  an  ordinary  school- 
room. 

Three  classes  of  say  twenty-five  each,  or  seventy-five  boys, 
could  be  taught  a  two-hour  lesson  in  the  same  room  in  a  day. 
If  each  boy  had  but  two  lessons  per  week,  three  times  that 
number  of  boys  could  be  accommodated  on  different  days,  or 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five  in  all.  It  thus  appears  that  one 


288  MANUAL   EDUCATION.  [Chap,  XL 

room,  properly  fitted  up,  would  be  enough  for  either  the  academy 
of  this  university  or  either  of  the  city  high  schools.  A  com- 
petent teacher,  at  say  one  thousand  dollars,  in  such  a  room, 
would,  I  think,  be  as  valuable  to  the  interests  of  education 
as  any  in  the  whole  corps.  Such  annexes  I  commend  strongly 
to  school  boards. 

The  more  fully  furnished  shops,  containing  the  whole  list  of 
forges,  engines,  and  machine-tools,  must  of  course  be  left  to 
private  institutions  founded  by  such  men  as  Stevens,  Hopkins, 
Cornell,  and  those  whose  names  I  have  mentioned  to-night.1 

1  It  must  be  remembered  that  this  address  was  given  in  1878  before  the  pres- 
ent Manual  Training  School  was  established.  Its  direct  influence  was  soon  plainly 
seen.  Mr.  Samuel  Cupples,  after  carefully  reading  a  printed  copy,  proposed  that 
the  experiment  be  tried.  The  result  was  the  speedy  organization  of  the  Manual 
Training  School,  as  related  on  page  7. 


Chap,  XH]  PROVIDING   FOR    THE  FUTURE.  289 


CHAPTER   XII. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PROSPECTUS  PUBLISHED   IN 
NOVEMBER,    1879.1 

THE   ORIGIN   AND   PURPOSE   OF   THE   SCHOOL. 

r  I  ^HE  Manual  Training  School  owes  its  existence  to  the  con- 
J-  viction,  on  the  part  of  its  founders,  that  the  interests  of  St. 
Louis  demand  for  young  men  a  system  of  education  which  shall 
fit  them  for  the  actual  duties  of  life,  in  a  more  direct  and  positive 
manner  than  is  done  in  the  ordinary  American  school. 

St.  Louis  already  has  large  manufacturing  as  well  as  commer- 
cial interests,  and  we  all  expect  to  see  these  interests  greatly 
increase.  We  see  in  the  future  an  increasing  demand  for 
thoroughly  trained  men  to  take  positions  in  manufacturing 
establishments  as  superintendents,  as  foremen,  and  as  skilled 
workmen.  The  youth  of  to-day  are  to  be  the  men  of  the  next 
generation.  It  is  important  that  we  keep  their  probable  life- 
work  in  view  in  providing  for  their  education.  Excellent  as 
are  our  established  schools,  both  public  and  private,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  they  still  leave  something  to  be  desired ;  they  do 
not,  and  probably  they  can  not,  cover  the  whole  ground. 

This  conviction  of  the  incompleteness  of  present  means  and 
methods  of  education  has  found  utterance  in  many  ways. 
Some  of  the  best  friends  of  education  have  expressed  them- 
selves in  strong  and  suggestive  language.  All  such  agree  in 
the  conclusion  that  the  main  deficiency  is  in  the  direction  of 
manual  education. 


1  These  extracts  are  given  partly  to  show  the  clearly  defined  position  of  the 
school  at  its  start.  That  position  has  been  abundantly  strengthened  by  experi- 
ence, and  we  have  been  enabled  to  make  a  much,  fuller  statement  in  Chap.  IX. 
and  elsewhere. 


290      EXTRACTS   FROM   THE   PROSPECTUS    OF  1879.       [Chap.  XII. 

Hence,  as  has  so  often  been  said,  nearly  all  our  skilled  work- 
men are  imported.  Our  best  machinists,  miners,  weavers, 
watch-makers,  iron-workers,  draughtsmen,  and  artisans  of  every 
description,  come  from  abroad ;  and  this  is  not  because  our 
native-born  are  deficient  in  natural  tact  or  ability,  nor  because 
they  are  in  point  of  fact  above  and  beyond  such  occupations, 
but  because  they  are  without  suitable  means  and  opportunities 
for  getting  the  proper  training. 

About  two  years  ago  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
Jersey  appointed  a  commission  to  investigate  and  report  on 
the  course  the  State  ought  to  take  in  the  interest  of  the  higher 
order  of  manufactures.  The  commission  consisted  of  Messrs. 
Samuel  E.  Brown,  Thomas  N.  Dale,  and  Prof.  Robert  H. 
Thurston,  who  acted  as  secretary  and  compiled  the  report. 
In  their  report  of  1878,  the  commission  strongly  advocated  the 
establishment  of  trade  schools  (i.e.,  manual  training  schools) 
in  which  should  be  practically  taught  the  essential  principles 
which  underlie  the  industries.  By  such  a  course  alone,  they 
argue,  can  we,  as  a  manufacturing  people,  hope  to  compete 
successfully  with  the  workmen  and  manufacturers  of  Europe. 

The  arguments  of  the  commission  apply  as  forcibly  in  St. 
Louis  as  in  New  Jersey. 

There  is,  doubtless,  much  to  be  learned  in  the  organization 
and  administration  of  a  manual  training  school  on  American 
soil ;  but  its  value  to  a  manufacturing  community  has  been 
demonstrated  beyond  question,  and  its  essential  features  have 
been  clearly  determined. 

It  is  believed  that,  to  all  students,  without  regard  to  plans  for  the 
future,  the  value  of  the  training  which  can  be  got  in  shop-work, 
spending  only  from  four  to  twelve  hours  per  week,  is  abundantly 
sufficient  to  justify  the  expense  of  materials,  tools,  and  expert 
teachers. 

One  great  object  of  the  school  will  be  to  foster  a  higher 
appreciation  of  the  value  and  dignity  of  intelligent  labor,  and 
the  worth  and  respectability  of  laboring  men.  A  boy  who  sees 
nothing  in  manual  labor  but  mere  brute  force  despises  both 
the  labor  and  laborer.  With  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  him- 


Chap,  m]      GENERAL    VALUE   OF  MANUAL    EXERCISES.        291 

self,  come  the  ability  and  the  willingness  to  recognize  skill  in 
his  fellows.  When  once  he  appreciates  skill  in  handicraft,  he 
regards  the  workman  with  sympathy  and  respect. 

In  a  manual  training  school,  tool-work  can  never  descend 
into  drudgery.  The  tasks  are  not  long,  nor  are  they  unneces- 
sarily repeated.  In  this  school,  whatever  may  be  the  social 
standing  or  importance  of  the  fathers,  the  sons  will  go  together 
to  the  same  work,  and  be  tested  physically  as  well  as  intellect- 
ually by  the  same  standards.  The  result  in  the  past  has  been, 
and  in  the  future  it  will  continue  to  be,  a  truer  estimate  of 
laboring  and  manufacturing  people,  and  a  sounder  judgment  on 
all  social  problems.  If  the  manual  training  school  should  do 
nothing  else,  it  would  still  justify  all  the  efforts  in  its  behalf  if  it 
helps  in  the  solution  of  the  difficulties  between  labor  and  capital. 

In  these  ways  it  is  hoped  that  the  Manual  Training  School 
will  serve  the  interests  of  the  people  of  St.  Louis.  The  atten- 
tion of  parents  and  educators  is  respectfully  called  to  the 
curriculum  of  study  and  shop-practice  given  below,  and  all  are 
earnestly  invited  to  consider  how  far  this  school  meets  their 
individual  wants. 

COURSE   OF   STUDY.1 

The  experience  of  several  years  in  our  own  workshops,2  the 
experience  of  many  somewhat  similar  schools  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe,  and  a  careful  consideration  of  the  interests  of 
St.  Louis,  enable  us  to  sketch  out  with  confidence  the  proper 
curriculum  of  work  and  study  for  our  pupils. 

As  stated  in  the  ordinance,  the  course  of  instruction  will 
cover  three  years ;  and  the  school-time  of  the  pupils  will  be 
about  equally  divided  between  mental  and  manual  exercises. 
Neither  intellectual  nor  physical  labor  will  be  carried  to  the 
extent  of  weariness. 

The  change  from  recitation  to  the  shop,  and  from  shop  to 
study  and  recitation,  will  be  agreeable  and  healthful,  keeping 
both  mind  and  body  fresh  and  vigorous. 

In  mathematics  the  course  of  instruction  will  be  thorough, 
but  not  extended.  Arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry,  and  plane 

1  For  the  present  course  of  study,  see  Appendix  I.  2  See  Chapter  I. 


292      EXTRACTS  FROM   THE  PROSPECTUS   OF  1879.       [Chap,  XII. 

trigonometry  will  be  studied  in  succession.  The  application 
of  these  branches  will  be  made  in  bookkeeping,  mechanical 
drawing,  physics,  and  mechanics. 

Some  attention  will  be  given  to  physical  geography,  and  the 
principles  of  chemistry. 

The  English  language  and  literature  will  be  carefully  studied 
throughout  the  course.  Every  graduate  of  the  school  will  have 
a  fair  command  of  the  -English  language,  whether  in  writing  or 
speaking. 

History,  practical  ethics,  and  political  economy  will  each 
find  a  place  on  the  program,  —  the  treatment  of  each  subject 
being  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  the  class. 

Special  attention  will  be  paid  to  drawing  during  the  whole 
course.  Drawing  is  the  short-hand  language  of  modern  science. 
Careful  drawings  are  to  technically  educated  people  what  pic- 
tures are  to  children.  They  show  at  a  glance  what  it  is  not  in 
the  power  of  words  to  express.  It  is  a  universal  language,  and 
should  be  read  and  understood  by  all  men. 

MANUAL   EDUCATION. 

Thus  far  our  course  of  study  is  familiar.  We  come  now  to 
the  manual  training  proper  —  to  that  feature  which  is  to  distin- 
guish this  school  from  those  around  it.  How  shall  we  train  the 
hand  to  keep  pace  with  the  eye  and  the  mind,  and  to  fit  it  well 
for  its  future  uses  ? 

During  the  last  hundred  years  the  world  has  made  rapid 
strides  in  the  invention  and  use  of  tools.  We  do  nothing  with 
the  unaided  hand ;  everything  is  done  by  tools. 

Tool-instruction,  then,  is  what  is  wanted, — instruction  in  the 
nature,  theory,  and  use  of  tools.  Thus  shall  we  place  within 
reach  the  key  which  is  to  unlock  the  mysteries  of  our  busy 
shops  and  factories. 

But  which  are  the  tools  whose  use  we  are  to  teach?  Before 
answering  this  question,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  apparently 
great  variety  in  tools  and  mechanical  processes  arises  from 
different  combinations  of  very  simple  elements.  The  number 
of  hand-tools  is  small ;  one  can  easily  count  them  on  his  fingers. 
They  are  the  ax,  the  saiv,  the  plane,  the  hammer,  the  square,  the 


Chap.  XII,]  A    LIBERAL    TRAINING.  293 

chisel,  and  the  file.  The  study  of  a  tool  involves  an  examination 
of  its  form,  and  the  theory  of  its  action,  as  well  as  its  actual  use 
at  the  bench  or  forge.  After  the  hand  tools  our  pupils  must 
become  familiar  with  the  typical  machine  tools  which  are  chiefly 
employed  in  mechanical  pursuits.  A  knowledge  of  materials 
and  processes  is  as  important  as  an  acquaintance  with  tools. 

POLICY   OF   THE   SHOP  :   NO   ARTICLES   MADE  FOR   SALE. 

Throughout  the  course  of  shop-work,  in  addition  to  the  ab- 
stract exercises,  which  are  designed  to  give  certain  practices 
and  illustrate  certain  processes,  actual  tools  or  part  of  tools 
needed,  either  in  the  shop  or  in  the  laboratories  of  the  univer- 
sity, will  from  time  to  time  be  made,  as  the  classes  become  fitted 
for  such  practical  work.  Aside  from  these,  however,  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  shops  are  not  intended  to  have  any  commercial  value  ; 
in  other  words,  the  shops  will  not  manufacture  for  the  market. 
Whatever  may  be  the  advantages  of  making  things  which  are 
to  be  subject  to  the  tests  of  trade,  we  think  that  in  this  case  the 
objections  outweigh  them. 

In  the  first  place,  the  management  of  this  school  does  not 
propose  that  its  shops  shall  enter  into  competition  with  manu- 
facturing establishments.  Proprietors  of  machine-shops  and 
factories  need  not  look  upon  this  institution  as  a  rival. 

In  the  next  place,  the  scope  of  a  single  trade  is  too  narrow 
for  educational  purposes.  Our  manual  education  should  be  as 
broad  and  liberal  as  our  intellectual.  A  shop  which  manufac- 
tures for  the  market,  and  expects  a  revenue  from  the  sale  of  its 
products,  is  necessarily  confined  to  salable  work,  and  a  system- 
atic and  progressive  series  of  lessons  is  impossible.  If  the  object 
of  the  shop  is  education,  a  student  should  be  allowed  to  discon- 
tinue any  task  or  process  the  moment  he  has  learned  to  do  it 
well.  If  the  shop  were  intended  to  make  money,  the  students 
would  be  kept  at  work  on  what  they  could  do  best,  at  the 
expense  of  breadth  and  versatility. 

It  is  claimed  that  students  take  more  interest  in  working 
upon  something,  which,  when  finished,  has  intrinsic  value,  than 
they  do  in  abstract  exercises.  This  is  quite  possible,  and  proper 
use  should  be  made  of  this  fact ;  but,  if  all  education  were  limited 


294      EXTRACTS  FROM   THE  PROSPECTUS   OF  1879.      [chap.  XII, 

to  such  practical  examples,  our  schools  would  be  useless.  The 
idea  of  a  school  is  that  pupils  are  to  be  graded  and  taught  in 
classes ;  the  result  aimed  at  being,  not  at  all  the  objective  prod- 
uct or  finished  work,  but  the  intellectual  and  physical  growth 
which  comes  from  the  exercise.  Of  what  use  is  the  elaborate 
solution  in  algebra,  the  minute  drawing,  or  the  faithful  transla- 
tion after  it  is  well  done  ?  Do  we  not  erase  the  one,  and  burn 
the  other,  with  the  clear  conviction  that  the  only  thing  of  value 
was  the  discipline,  and  that  that  is  indestructible  ? 

Now,  we  proceed  in  manual  education  on  precisely  the  same 
plan.  We  abstract  all  the  mechanical  processes  and  manual 
arts  and  typical  tools  of  the  trades  and  occupations  of  men, 
arrange  a  systematic  course  of  instruction  in  the  same,  and 
then  incorporate  it  into  our  system  of  education.  Thus,  with- 
out teaching  any  one  trade,  we  teach  the  essential  mechanical 
principles  of  all. 

MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOLS   COMPARED   WITH   ORDINARY 

SHOPS. 

These  two  paragraphs  are  from  the  New  Jersey  report  re- 
ferred to  on  page  290 :  — 

44  Experience  has  shown  these  systematically  and  intelligently 
conducted  schools  to  be  far  more  efficient  means  of  education 
and  training  for  the  workmen  than  even  the  best  managed  mill. 
The  impossibility  of  giving  methodical  instruction  in  all  matters 
of  detail,  or  of  accommodating  the  time  and  the  movements  of 
the  instructor  to  the  capacity  and  progress  of  the  learner ;  the 
jealousy  and  the  unaccommodating  spirit  of  overseers  and 
managers,  and  the  utter  impossibilit}*-  of  permitting  the  finan- 
cial results  of  commercial  work  to  be  affected  by  the  interests 
or  the  blunders  of  the  novice,  combine  to  preclude,  absolutely, 
all  effective  tuition  in  the  mill. 

"  Again,  the  mill  is  the  more  successful,  commercially,  as  it 
confines  itself  the  more  strictly  to  a  particular  grade  or  a  spe- 
cial class  of  goods,  for  the  production  of  which  it  is  best  fitted, 
and  as  it  confines  the  operatives,  each  to  a  certain  department, 
and  to  a  single  and  never-changed  kind  of  work  ;  it  is  thus 
impossible  to  reconcile  the  interests  of  the  learner,  who  must 


Chap,  XII. ]      PRACTICAL    VALUE   OF  TOOL-EDUCATION.  295 

seek  a  knowledge  of  all  departments,  and  of  every  operation,  with 
those  of  the  mill-owner  who  is  most  prosperous  when  each  indi- 
vidual is  confined  to  the  task  for  which  he  or  she  is  best  fitted." 

This  extract  is  inserted  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  objec- 
tion, which  has  been  often  made,  that,  after  all,  the  shop  of  the 
manufacturer  is  the  best  place  for  a  young  man  to  learn  the  use 
of  tools.  Abundant  testimony  proves  that  the  objection  is  not 
sound.  In  the  shop  of  a  manufacturer,  one  readily  learns  the 
details  of  the  business.  But  in  an  instruction-shop,  where 
the  only  duty  of  the  expert  teacher  is  to  teach,  the  pupil  learns 
to  be  a  good  workman  much  quicker  than  in  an  ordinary  shop  ; 
and  not  only  does  he  make  more  rapid  progress  in  the  right 
direction,  but  he  is  saved  from  falling  into  clumsy  habits  and 
methods  of  work.  Too  often  is  the  ordinary  apprentice  left  to 
find  out  the  right  way  by  personal  hard  experience,  as  tho 
he  could  not  profit  by  the  experience  of  others. 

The  practical  value  of  school-shop  instruction  has  been  shown 
in  countless  instances.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  the  skilled 
workmen,  engineers,  foremen,  and  manufacturers,  now  in  France 
and  Germany,  got  their  tool-education  and  their  intellectual 
training  simultaneously  in  a  school. 

Almost  without  exception  the  graduates  of  the  school  of 
"  Arts  and  Trades,"  and  the  "  Apprentice  School,"  both  in  the 
city  of  Paris,  readily  find  and  fill  positions  as  skilled  workmen, 
from  which,  as  soon  as  they  have  learned  the  special  require- 
ments of  a  particular  trade  or  occupation,  they  rapidly  rise  to 
places  of  trust  and  responsibility.  The  ordinary  shop-trained 
workman  is  not  a  draughtsman,  has  little  knowledge  of  either 
mathematics  or  physics,  and  no  skill  or  finish  at  either  writing 
or  speaking.  Only  those  endowed  with  remarkable  intellectual 
power  rise  above  the  plane  of  a  good  mechanic. 

Prof.  Thompson,  the  principal  of  the  Worcester  Free  Indus- 
trial Institute  (a  school  admirably  equipped  with  shop  and 
tool  facilities),  says  that  it  is  confidently  expected  that  "the 
graduates  in  the  department  of  mechanics  will  be  as  skillful 
mechanics  as  ordinary  apprentices  who  have  served  three  years 
in  a  shop,  in  addition  to  the  advantages  of  a  solid  education." 
This  expectation  seems  to  be  well  founded.  An  examination 


296      EXTRACTS  FROM   THE  PROSPECTUS   OF  1879.      [chap,  HI. 

of  the  record  of  1878  shows  that  out  of  their  seventy-four  grad- 
uates in  the  department  of  mechanics,  at  least  fifty-three  per 
cent  were  either  engaged  in  manual  labor,  or  they  had,  through 
their  superior  training,  won  positions  where  they  were  direct- 
ing the  labor  of  others. 

So  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  brief  experience  of  the 
workshops  of  Washington  University,  shop-work,  when  properly 
managed,  results  in  the  acquisition  in  a  very  short  time  of  a 
high  degree  of  skill,  and  the  establishment  of  a  permanent 
liking  for  mechanical  pursuits. 

Whatever  may  be  the  final  occupation  of  individual  cases, 
we  may  be  sure  that  the  legitimate  result  of  this  school  will  be 
that  an  increased  number  of  young  men  will  be  led  into 
mechanical  pursuits,  and  that  many  of  them  will  look  back  to 
this  school  as  the  institution  which  helped  them  to  be  both 
"  willing  and  able  to  work." 


Chap.  Sill]  #£•    SAMUEL   JOHNSON  '£   IDEAS.  297 


CHAPTER   XIIL 

THE    PROVINCE    OF    PUBLIC    EDUCATION. 

DR.  SAMUEL  JOHNSON  considered  education  as  needful 
to  the  "embellishments  of  life."     In  his  day  very  few 
were  educated  at  all,  and  those  few  for  society  or  public  service. 
The  toiling  masses  had  no  education,  were  supposed  to  need  no 
education,  and,  while  discussing  details,  educators  and  scholars 
took  no  thought  of  what  we  call  the  common  people. 
Said  Johnson  (in  his  "  Life  of  Milton  ")  :  — 

"  The  truth  is,  that  the  knowledge  of  external  nature,  and  the  sciences 
which  that  knowledge  requires  or  includes,  are  not  the  great  or  the  frequent 
business  of  the  human  mind.  Whether  we  provide  for  action  or  conversa- 
tion, whether  we  wish  to  be  useful  or  pleasing,  the  first  requisite  is  the  reli- 
gious and  moral  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong  ;  the  next  is  an  acquaintance 
with  the  history  of  mankind,  and  with  those  examples  which  may  be  said  to 
embody  truth,  and  prove  by  events  the  reasonableness  of  opinions.  Pru- 
dence and  justice  are  virtues  and  excellences  of  all  times  and  of  all  places. 
We  are  perpetually  moralists,  but  we  are  geometricians  only  by  chance. 
Our  intercourse  with  intellectual  nature  is  necessary ;  our  speculations  upon 
matter  are  voluntary  and  at  leisure.  Physiological  learning  [by  which  he 
means  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  phenomena  of  the  external  world]  is  of 
such  rare  emergence,  that  one  may  know  another  half  his  life  without 
being  able  to  estimate  his  skill  in  hydrostatics  or  astronomy;  but  his  moral 
and  prudential  character  immediately  appears. 

"Those  authors,  therefore,  are  to  be  read  at  schools  that  supply  most 
axioms  of  prudence,  most  principles  of  moral  truth,  and  most  materials  for 
conversation;  and  those  purposes  are  best  served  by  poets,  orators,  and 
historians." 

This  statement  was,  no  doubt,  entirely  adequate  to  the 
demands  of  Johnson's  time.  Polite  conversation  and  elegant 
manners  were  the  chief  characteristics  of  an  age  in  which  dies- 


298  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.      [Chap.  XIII. 

terfield  was  a  bright  and  shining  light.  Like  the  "  Athenians 
and  strangers"  in  the  time  of  St.  Paul,  educated  people  "spent 
their  time  in  nothing  else,  but  either  to  tell,  or  to  hear,  some 
new  thing."  With  the  dull,  hard-working,  unlettered  crowds, 
that  plodded  on  in  the  steps  of  their  fathers  and  grandfathers, 
they  had  nothing  to  do ;  and  for  them  they  had  no  educational 
theories.  It  is  interesting  to  picture,  in  fancy,  the  bewilder- 
ment of  a  Sam  Johnson  in  the  learned  circles  of  this  scientific 
and  industrial  age.  Imagine  him  attempting  to  join  in  the  con- 
versations of  our  British  and  American  associations  for  the 
advancement  of  science,  or  in  our  halls  of  exchange,  where 
the  active  minds  of  our  generation  do  mostly  congregate.  He 
would  find  it  difficult,  in  spite  of  the  wonderful  vigor  of  his 
intellect,  to  be  either  useful  or  ornamental,  tho  he  could  easily 
be  amusing. 

But  how  many  there  are  who  still  cling  to  the  educational 
creed  of  Dr.  Johnson  !  Ruskin,  thinking  to  be  sure  of  the  same 
class  of  people  as  Johnson,  says  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
education  of  a  gentleman  consists  in  a  knowledge  of  history 
and  the  ancient  classics.  There  was  a  time  when  a  medical 
student  must  read  Galen  in  the  original  tongue:  hence  he  must 
have  learned  Greek,  and  he  must  write  his  prescriptions  in 
Latin.  The  student  of  theology  must  read  the  Bible  in  Greek 
and  in  Hebrew ;  the  law  student  must  read  in  the  original 
Latin  the  Corpus  Juris  and  the  Institutes  of  Justinian ;  the 
student  of  philosophy  must  translate  for  himself  Plato  and 
Aristotle,  and  all  scholarly  productions  were  to  be  written  in 
Latin.  The  learned  professions  were  then '  properly  so  called, 
for  their  requirements  separated  them  from  all  other  avocations. 

But  the  times  have  greatly  changed.  No  student,  medical 
or  otherwise,  reads  Galen.  Galen's  theory  of  medicine  was 
founded  on  Aristotle's  theory  of  the  constitution  of  matter; 
and  when,  after  standing  as  unquestioned  authority  for  a  thou- 
sand years,  the  theory  of  Aristotle  fell  before  modern  science, 
the  theory  of  Galen  fell  with  it. 

As  to  studying  Greek  and  Hebrew  for  the  better  understand- 
ing of  the  Bible,  it  should  be  generally  admitted  that  such  is 
not  the  case.  The  average  theological  student,  on  the  contrary, 


Chap,  Xin,]  THE  DELUSIONS   OF  DERIVATIONS.  299 

learns  his  Greek  and  his  Hebrew  from  his  Bible.  The  force  of  a 
Greek  particle,  and  the  exact  meaning"  of  a  Hebrew  dot  or  dash, 
he  gathers  from  the  context  in  the  "  King  James "  or  the 
"  Revised  "  translation. 

Thus  are  the  tables  completely  turned  in  classical  study. 
We  put  the  meaning  of  English  words  and  modern  ideas  into 
Greek  and  Latin  and  Hebrew  roots,  and  then  claim  that  it 
increases  our  knowledge  of  our  own  tongue  to  be  able  to  pro- 
nounce the  classic  originals,  which  we  have  ourselves  clothed 
with  meaning.  If  one  is  to  read  an  author  in  the  original,  it  is 
obvious  that  he  ought  first  to  learn  the  language  thoroughly, 
and  then  read  his  author ;  otherwise,  he  is  corrupting  the  lan- 
guage by  giving  its  words  modern  significations,  and  is  putting 
ideas  into  his  author's  head  which  he  never  dreamed  of.1 

But  this  is  a  digression.  I  have  no  wish  to  oppose  the  legiti- 
mate study  of  Greek  or  Hebrew  or  any  other  dead  language. 
In  fact,  I  approve  the  study  of  at  least  one  inflected  language 
(though  not  for  the  sake  of  thoroughly  learning  it,  or  for  reading 
its  literature  in  the  original).  But  I  do  desire  to  call  attention 
to  two  things :  first,  that  the  former  utilitarian  motives  for  the 
study  of  the  ancient  languages  no  longer  exist;  and  secondly, 
that  the  usual  utilitarian  arguments  adduced  for  the  present 
superficial  study  of  those  languages  —  viz.,  to  throw  light  upon 
the  meaning  of  modern  words  derived  from  those  early  roots  — 
are  exceedingly  weak  or  altogether  void.  I  do  not  deny  that 
it  is  reasonable  and  satisfactory,  as  a  mere  matter  of  curiosity, 
for  one  to  know  why  a  telephone  is  so  called ;  but  I  do  deny 
that  it  adds  one  particle  to  my  knowledge  of  a  telephone  to 
know  that  the  name  was  coined  from  two  Greek  words. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  what  I  mean  by  knowledge  is  not, 
in  a  case  of  this  sort,  to  be  derived  from  books.  To  really 
know  what  a  telephone  is,  is  an  achievement  of  no  small  impor- 

1  I  remember  hearing  a  teacher  dilate  upon  the  value  of  derivations  for  giving 
information  as  to  the  force  of  words.  He  instanced  the  word  "cosmopolitan," 
and  pointed  out  cosmos  from  /cdcr/uos,  "  world,"  andpolitan  from  noMrw,  "  citizen;  " 
hence  cosmopolitan,  "  a  citizen  of  the  world."  Now  it  was  evident  that  his  idea 
of  the  force  of  TTOAITT??  was  obtained  not  from  Aristotle,  or  from  Demosthenes,  but 
from  the  English  word  citizen ;  and  his  notion  of  KO<T/AO?  was  derived  from  his 
antecedent  knowledge  of  the  very  word,  cosmopolitan,  which  he  was  trying  to  define. 


„    \ 


300  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [chap,  XIIL 

tance,  and  is  utterly  beyond  the  horizon  of  both  Aristotle  and 
Socrates ;  but  that  knowledge  gained,  it  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  the  name  of  the  instrument  can  add  either  force  or  clear- 
ness to  one's  conception  of  the  thing. 

It  is  only  when  one  has  no  means  of  information,  except  the 
name,  that  it  gives  any  information.  Of  course  such  informa- 
tion is  exceedingly  inadequate,  and  ought  never  to  satisfy. 
The  tendency  of  philological  study  is  to  accept  derivation  as  a 
sufficient  explanation  of  the  force  of  words.  In  my  opinion, 
there  is  much  to  be  said  on  the  other  side.  Take,  for  example, 
the  word  citizen  used  above.  Is  it  helpful  or  not  to  the  present 
exact  meaning  and  force  of  that  word  to  know  that  it  means,  ety- 
mologically,  "  one  belonging  to  a  city  "  ?  * 

Education  is  too  large  to  be  enclosed  in  the  walls  of  a  school- 
room; hence  I  shall  speak  chiefly  of  school  education,  and  I 
shall  not  attempt  a  new  definition  of  even  that.  We  are 
pretty  well  agreed  on  certain  elements  and  spheres  of  develop- 
ment. 

The  universe  has  two  spheres,  —  one  of  matter,  the  other  of 
mind.  To  be  prepared  for  one's  work  in  both,  one  must  be 
trained  in  both. 

Perception,  memory,  and  judgment  are  to  be  developed, 
cultivated,  and  trained. 

These  mental  faculties,  however  divided  and  subdivided,  are 
to  be  treated  in  a  rational  manner,  that  the  mind  may  possess 
what  we  call  power.  This  is  the  choicest  fruit  of  education ; 
and  it  may  be  secured  —  that  is,  we  may  suppose  that  it  is 
secured  —  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  universe,  both  of 
matter  and  of  mind,  quite  unlike  the  one  in  which  we  live,  —  a 
universe  whose  physical  and  mental  laws  and  facts  and  phenom- 
ena are  different  from  ours.  But  a  being  thus  trained  would 
possess  power  only  in  the  sphere  in  which  it  had  been  trained. 
In  another  and  different  universe  it  would  be  powerless. 

Consider  for  a  moment  the  condition  of  a  being,  say  an  angel 

1  I  once  read  an  elaborate  essay  which  was  mainly  occupied  in  attempting  to 
make  the  meaning-  and  the  present  demands  of  education  clear  to  an  audience 
of  American  teachers,  by  discussing  the  meaning  of  educere  as  used  by  Horace 
and  Cicero. 


Chap.Xin,]  THE   SOURCE   OF  POWER.  301 

from  the  heights  of  heaven,  a  bright,  intelligent  spirit  from  that 
celestial  sphere  where  our  material,  sensuous  laws  do  not  obtain, 
transported  for  the  first  time  to  this  earth,  and  incarnated  as 
we  are.  How  utterly  powerless  would  this  powerful  being  be  ! 
He  would  not  know  the  meaning  of  a  single  sight  nor  sound, 
odor  nor  flavor ;  he  would  not  know  up  from  down,  heat  from 
cold,  heavy  from  light,  long  from  short ;  he  would  be,  in  truth, 
as  helpless  as  an  infant,  and  he  could  begin  life  here  in  no 
way  but  as  an  infant.  In  fact,  he  could  begin  only  as  we 
began ;  grow  in  knowledge  and  power  as  we  grew ;  develop 
and  acquire  culture  and  skill  as  we  have  acquired  them.  Bacon 
was  then  right  when  he  said  that  Knowledge  was  Power.  The 
things  we  really  know  are  not  the  things  we  have  merely  read 
about  or  heard  about,  but  the  things  we  have  lived,  have  ex- 
perienced, have  been  sensible  of.  All  that  the  angel  could 
bring  from  another  sphere  is  capacity  for  power,  not  power 
itself.  Power  over  things  external  to  one's  self  can  come  only 
through  growth  and  personal  experience  of  external  things,  as 
an  oak  can  come  from  an  acorn  only  by  going  through  the 
whole  process  of  growth. 

A  knowledge  of  the  facts,  phenomena,  and  relations  of  the 
mental  and  physical  worlds  in  which  we  are  to  live  is,  then, 
the  basis  of  our  power ;  and  in  so  far  as  we  devote  ourselves  to 
the  acquisition  of  facts  or  to  the  observation  of  the  phenomena 
and  relations  of  other  worlds,  or  of  imaginary  worlds,  which 
are  unlike  ours,  then  so  far  our  labor  is  without  fruit. 

Now,  a  thousand  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  I  insist 
that  public  education  should  aim  to  develop  power,  —  power 
to  take  care  of  one's  self,  power  to  discharge  one's  duties  to  his 
family  and  to  the  State,  power  to  make  the  most  of  one's  self. 

How  shall  this  power  be  developed  ?  One  says  by  studying 
the  orators,  poets,  and  historians ;  another  says  by  learning  to 
read,  write,  and  cipher ;  another,  by  learning  to  shoot,  to  ride, 
to  row,  to  sail,  to  swim,  to  vault,  to  box,  to  run  races,  to  drive 
a  four-horse  chariot ;  still  another  says  power  is  to  be  developed 
by  going  into  the  streets,  and  sharpening  one's  wits  by  contact 
with  all  sorts  of  men  ;  and  another,  by  going  into  the  fields,  and 
studying  plants  and  insects,  the  earth  beneath  his  feet,  arid  the 


302  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [Chap,  XIII. 

heavens  above  his  head.  In  all  these  paths  powerful  men  have 
walked,  and  their  admirers  have  not  been  slow  to  claim  for  each 
method  in  turn  a  preeminent  value. 

A  judicial  mind  at  once  sees  that  all  are  right,  and  all  are 
wrong.  It  would  be  clearly  unfortunate  to  train  all  by  any  one 
of  these  methods.  Power  is  not  all  of  one  kind,  and  the  world 
wants  a  great  variety  of  powers ;  and  some  who  would  fail  by 
one  road  may  succeed  by  another. 

But  how  is  one  to  know  which  path  to  take  without  first  try- 
ing them  all,  since  not  the  road  alone,  but  the  traveler  is  to  be 
taken  into  account?  Clearly,  intelligent  choice  can  be  exer- 
cised only  when  the  chief  characteristics  of  both  roads  and 
traveler  are  fairly  comprehended.  Education,  then,  must  be 
"all  around,"  arid  many-sided,  unless  the  right  of  choice  is 
denied.  At  this  point  I  think  we  can  all  agree.  But  now 
comes  the  question :  How  much  of  this  must  the  school  under- 
take, and  how  much  must  be  left  to  the  home  and  other  influ- 
ences? Here  we  shall  differ.  One  points  to  the  past,  and  says, 
"  Thus  did  our  fathers,  and  so  must  we  "  ;  as  tho  we,  who  refuse 
to  do  other  things  as  our  fathers  did  them,  and  who  persist  in 
doing  a  thousand  things  which  our  fathers  never  dreamed  of, 
must  still  conduct  school  education  in  the  old-fashioned  way. 
To  speak  truly,  it  is  as  absurd  to  consult  Plato  or  Cicero  or 
Milton  or  Samuel  Johnson  or  Benjamin  Franklin  or  Daniel 
Webster  as  to  how  we  shall  teach  school  in  this  year  of  our 
Lord,  1887,  as  it  would  be  to  consult  them  as  to  how  we  shall 
build  our  houses,  cultivate  our  crops,  fight  our  battles,  travel 
over  land  and  sea,  communicate  our  thoughts,  light  our  streets, 
or  amuse  our  children. 

"  In  these  days  of  repeating  rifles,  Harvard  sent  me  and  my 
classmates  out  into  the  strife  equipped  with  shields  and  swords 
and  javelins,"  said  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Jr.,  in  his  remark- 
able Phi  Beta  Kappa  address.  "  We  can  not  continue  in  this 
age  full  of  modern  artillery  to  turn  out  our  boys  to  do  battle 
in  it,  equipped  only  with  the  sword  and  shield  of  the  ancient 
Gladiator,"  says  Huxley,  using  the  same  striking  figure. 

Sir  Lyon  Playfair  changes  the  metaphor,  but  is  none  the  less 
expressive.  What  he  protests  against  is  not  literary  study,  but 


Chap.  XIII.]  A    PERPLEXING   ANOMALY.  303 

the  exclusion  of  those  modern  subjects  which  bear  directly 
upon  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  life.  He  says,  "  In  a 
scientific  and  keenly  competitive  age,  an  exclusive  education  in 
the  dead  languages  is  a  perplexing  anomaly.  The  flowers  of 
literature  should  be  cultivated  and  gathered,  tho  it  is  not  wise 
to  send  men  into  our  fields  of  industry  to  gather  the  harvest, 
when  they  have  been  taught  only  to  cull  the  poppies,  and 
to  push  aside  the  wheat."  (British  Association  Address,  1885.) 

Another  says  we  must  teach  mainly  the  love  of  the  beautiful, 
while  the  useful  must  be  left  to  take  care  of  itself:  so  he  urges 
the  study  of  art  and  music  and  poetry  and  eloquence ;  beauty 
of  form,  life,  and  manner. 

Another  declares  that  a  school  is  for  intellectual  training,  and 
that  neither  morality  nor  a  preparation  for  the  business  of  life 
is  admissible. 

Another  declares  that  a  thorough  preparation  for  the  business 
of  life  is  the  main  function  of  a  school.  And  so  on. 

In  an  industrial,  scientific  age,  in  which  ecclesiastlcism  is 
either  dead  or  dying,  in  which  monarchism  is  fading  away  Avith 
the  decay  of  the  warlike  spirit,  in  which  all  men  are  equal  before 
the  law,  —  we  must  invent,  among  other  inventions,  our  insti- 
tutions of  education.  Nothing  can  be  more  appropriate  than 
the  figure  about  putting  new  wine  into  new  bottles,  if  we  could 
preserve  the  wine.  What,  then,  shall  the  school  attempt  to  give  ? 

There  can  be  no  question  about  the  three  R's,1  tho  I  can 
not  refrain  from  urging  that  children  shall  not  be  taught  to  read 
or  repeat  language  which  they  do  not  understand.  As  soon  as 
they  learn  by  any  rational  method  a  new  word  or  phrase,  let 
them  learn  to  write  it,  and  to  recognize  it  at  sight,  whether  in 
print  or  in  script.  And  in  arithmetic  let  the  abstract  methods 
be  applied  in  concrete  examples  as  frequently  and  as  variously 
as  possible.  The  two  cautions  I  would  urge  are :  that  instruc- 
tion in  arithmetic  should  be  carefully  graded  to  the  ability  of 
the  pupils  ;  and  that  the  slang  of  banks,  brokers'  offices,  and 

1  "  The  uneducated  look  upon  reading  and  writing  as  education.  There  is  an 
age  when  these  become  practically  indispensable,  but  they  do  not  in  themselves 
educate ;  they  are  simply  its  instruments,  tho  most  potent  ones."  —  MRS.  HORACE 
MANN. 


304  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.      [chap.  XIII. 

halls  of  exchange  be  excluded.  This  slang,  which  soon  becomes 
the  technique  of  trade,  has  110  more  place  in  the  schoolroom  than 
have  the  legal  phrases  of  the  lawyer,  the  medical  terms  of  the 
physician,  or  the  technical  vocabulary  of  the  engineer. 

Neither  should  there  be  any  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
propriety  of  studying  literature,  geography,  and  history,  as 
pupils  become  old  enough  to  do  so  with  profit.  By  all  means 
give  them  Bryant  and  -Milton  and  Longfellow  and  Shakespere 
and  Homer,  and  give  frequent,  nay  daily,  practice  in  writing 
English,  after  the  model  of  our  best  prose  writers.  Do  not  be 
afraid  to  teach  pupils  to  consciously  imitate  good  prose  writers 
one  after  another.  Do  not  be  afraid  of  thereby  preventing  the 
formation  of  an  original  style.  Most  original  styles  should 
have  been  prevented,  in  my  opinion.  If  one  finds  that  the  style 
of  an  Irving,  an  Alcott,  a  Howells,  or  an  Addison  meets  his 
wants,  by  all  means  let  him  keep  it.  If  he  wants  more,  he  will 
certainly  find  it  himself. 

But  shall  we  stop  here  with  our  curriculum  ?  Shall  we  omit 
a  systematic  study  of  the  elements  of  natural  science,  by  the 
rational  method  of  things  before  words  ?  Shall  we  forget  that 
the  pupils  have  hands  as  well  as  eyes  and  ears  ?  Shall  we  ex- 
clude all  tools,  because  the  pen  has  been  declared  the  mightiest 
of  weapons  ?  In  this  forceful  age,  when  we  do  few  things 
directly,  and  most  things  by  instruments,  by  tools,  by  mechan- 
ism, by  directing  the  willing  forces  of  nature  until  one  "  skillful 
hand  and  cultured  brain"  can  outdo  a  thousand  Grecian  or 
Egyptian  slaves,  —  shall  we  refuse  that  MANUAL  TRAINING 
which  should  be  one  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  an  American 
youth? 

But  to  be  more  specific.  There  are  many  who  agree  with  me 
in  regard  to  the  necessity  of  manual  training,  particularly  for 
city  boys,  who  nevertheless  see  no  way  for  securing  it  at  school. 
They  take  it  for  granted  that  school  is  the  place  for  intellectual 
and  moral  training  through  the  medium  of  books  alone,  and 
that  hand  training  lies  outside  the  proper  functions  of  the  school. 

In   his   essay 1   on   English   in    schools,    among   much   most 

1  Published  as  an  introduction  to  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  and  The  Mer- 
chant of  Venice. 


Chap,  XIII.]  VIEWS   OF  DR.    HUDSON.  305 

excellent  matter,  Dr.  H.  N.  Hudson,  the  Shakspearean  critic, 

says : — 

"  But  I  suspect  our  American  parents  have  become  somewhat  absurdly, 
and  not  very  innocently,  ambitious  of  having  their  boys  and  girls  all  edu- 
cated to  be  good  for  nothing ;  too  proud  or  too  lazy  to  live  by  hand  work, 
while  they  are  nowise  qualified  to  live  by  head  work,  nor  could  get  any  to 
do,  if  they  were.  If  they  would  in  all  meekness  and  simplicity  of  heart 
endeavor  to  educate  their  children  to  be  good  for  something,  they  would  be 
infinitely  more  likely  to  overtake  the  aim  of  their  sinful  and  wicked  ambition. 

"So  long  as  people  proceed  upon  the  notion  that  their  children's  main 
business  in  this  world  is  to  shine  and  not  to  work,  and  that  the  school  has  it 
in  special  charge  to  fit  them  out  on  all  points,  just  so  long  they  will  continue 
to  expect  and  to  demand  of  the  school  that  which  the  school  can  not  give.  .  .  . 

"  It  is,  then,  desirable  that  children  should  learn  to  think,  but  it  is  indispen- 
sable that  they  should  learn  to  work;  and  I  believe  it  is  possible  for  a  large, 
perhaps  the  larger,  portion  of  them  to  be  so  educated  as  to  find  pleasure  in 
both.  But  the  great  question  is,  how  to  render  the  desirable  thing  and  the 
indispensable  thing  mutually  helpful  and  supplementary.  For  surely  the  two 
parts  of  education,  —  the  education  of  the  mind,  and  the  education  of  the 
hand,  —  tho  quite  distinct  in  idea,  and  separate  in  act,  are  not,  or  need  not 
be,  at  all  antagonistic." 

Dr.  Hudson  thought  that  the  school  should  give  the  "  head  " 
training,  while  the  home  should  give  the  "  hand "  training ; 
hence  his  phrase,  "  separate  in  act."  In  point  of  fact,  mental 
and  manual  training  are  closely  allied,  and  should  generally  be 
combined  in  act.  All  manual  training  is  more  or  less  intel- 
lectual. To  be  sure,  there  is  very  little  mental  exercise  in 
penmanship,  or  "  fingering  "  at  a  piano,  as  there  is  in  the  muscle- 
culture  of  the  gymnasium ;  but  tool-work  is  of  a  much  higher 
grade,  and  is  more  nearly  analagous  to  English  composition 
and  to  instrumental  music. 

Rev.  Edward  E.  Hale  has  pleaded  eloquently  for  more  prac- 
tical training,  which  he  also  assumes  is  to  be  given  at  home  or 
during  vacation ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  securing  better  oppor- 
tunities for  such  training,  he  advocates  either  half-time  schools 
or  longer  vacations.1 

Mr.  Hale's  position  is  so  extreme  that  it  almost  answers 
itself.  I  am  as  familiar  with  the  fortunate  circumstances  of  a 

1  See  "  Half-Time  Schools,"  North  American  Review,  November,  1883. 


306  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [Chap,  XIH. 

farmer's  boy  as  Mr.  Hale.  I  have  tried  the  school  winters,  and 
the  farm  summers.  I  know  the  value  of  a  country  training, 
where  a  fond  father  is  never  tired  of  giving  sound  instruction, 
and  encouraging  high  aspirations.  But  the  evils  of  which  Mr. 
Hale  complains  are  chiefly  found  in  city  schools;  they  have 
small  foothold  in  the  country.  Not  one  per  cent  of  the  fathers 
in  a  great  city  can  command  the  facilities  for  teaching  what  he 
says  every  boy  ought  to  learn  at  home  during  vacation.  Just 
hear  him ! 

"  He  must  know  what  a  bushel  of  wheat  was  when  he  saw 
it,  and  how  a  blacksmith  shod  a  horse.  He  must  learn  the 
methods  of  a  town  meeting.  He  must  know  how  to  milk,  how 
to  plow,  how  to  cradle  oats,  how  to  drive,  how  to  harness  a 
horse,  how  to  take  off  a  wheel,  and  how  to  grease  an  axle." 

It  is  excellent  to  be  highly  accomplished,  of  course,  but  could 
he  not  with  equal  propriety  have  said  this  ?  — 

"  He  must  know  a  salmon  when  he  sees  it,  and  how  the  sailor 
splices  a  rope.  He  must  learn  the  discipline  of  a  ship.  He 
must  learn  how  to  dress  a  fish,  how  to  set,  reef,  and  furl  a  sail, 
how  to  row  and  scull  a  boat,  how  to  swim,  and  how  to  stop  a 
leak." 

The  city  boy  is  more  likely  to  learn  these  than  those ;  yet,  if 
he  spends  his  vacation  at  home,  three-fourths  of  it  is  worse  than 
wasted.  No  time  is  so  fruitless  of  good,  so  fruitful  of  evil,  as 
the  long  vacation.  The  father  generally  works  under  such  con- 
ditions that  he  can  neither  employ  nor  entertain  his  son  during 
the  day.  The  restraints  of  home  are  soon  outgrown,  and  the 
boy  is  on  the  street,  guided  by  "  that  good  master  himself," 
learning  the  ways  of  the  world  under  the  worst  possible  aus- 
pices.1 

The  answer  to  the  question,  What  more  shall  the  school 
undertake  to  do  ?  should  depend  upon  what,  in  the  interest  of 


1  "The  majority  of  our  people  now  reside  in  cities  or  large  towns  The  boy 
when  out  of  school,  can  no  longer  resort  to  the  carpenter's  bench  in  the  barn;  for 
there  is  no  barn,  not  even  a  wood-shed,  only  a  coal-cellar.  He  may,  at  times,  be 
found  in  a  vacant,  unfilled  lot,  having  a  very  poor  time  playing  a  very  poor  game 
of  ball;  now  and  then  he  may  make  a  laborious  expedition  to  some  park  or 
skating-pond  for  amusement;  but  during  the  most  of  the  time  he  has  no  resort 
outside  the  house  except  the  sidewalk."  — PREST.  F.  A.  WALKER. 


Chap.  XIII, ]       E.    E.    HALE  AND   SECRETARY  DICKINSON.       307 

economy,  individual  progress,  and  public  policy,  the  school  is 
able  to  do. 

Mr.  Hale  assumes  that  it  is  for  intellectual  discipline  alone, 
and  that  this  is  to  be  gained  by  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
All  else,  whether  music,  literature,  sewing,  drawing,  or  object 
lessons,  are  out  of  place.  When  there  are  so  many  things  as 
intellectual  as  penmanship,  and  as  practical  as  banking  and 
equation  of  payments,  which  every  boy  and  girl  should  know, 
is  there  any  good  reason  for  limiting  school  education  to  the 
three  R's  ?  Is  it  any  reason  that  it  was  so  once?  When  Daniel 
Webster x  was  a  boy,  there  was  not  a  railroad,  nor  a  telephone, 
not  even  a  telegraph  nor  a  steamboat,  in  the  land.  Our  present 
methods  of  supplying  cities  with  food,  with  fuel,  with  shelter, 
with  clothing,  were  unknown.  There  was  not  an  armored  ship, 
nor  a  breach-loading  gun,  nor  a  dynamo  in  the  world;  there 
was  no  theory  of  evolution,  no  modern  science  as  we  now 
understand  the  term,  and  one-half  of  the  present  occupations 
of  men  did  not  exist.  Are  our  schools  to  be  conducted  in  bliss- 
ful ignorance  of  all  this  ?  Can  the  ordinary  parent  teach  his 
boys  how  to  cradle  oats,  to  make  a  working  drawing,  to  braze 
two  pieces  of  iron,  to  make  and  temper  a  chisel,  to  frame  a 
joint,  or  to  make  an  electric  battery,  more  readily  than  he  can 
teach  him  how  to  read? 

Secretary  Dickinson  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Educa- 
tion has  taken  the  ground  that  the  chief  function  of  a  public 
school  is  to  prevent  illiteracy  by  teaching  reading.  After 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic  should  have  place ;  but  in  no 
direct  way  is  it  the  aim  of  a  public  school  to  fit  a  boy  to  earn  his 
living. 

From  a  recent  utterance  of  Prest.  Francis  A.  Walker,  partly 
in  reply  to  Secretary  Dickinson,  I  quote  a  word  as  to  the  proper 
function  of  public  schools  and  the  value  of  tool-instructions :  — 

"  It  is  at  this  point  that  we  part  company  with  Dr.  Dickinson.  He  would 
trust  to  the  continued  use  of  drawing,  and  to  the  increased  use  of  science- 
teaching,  to  train  the  senses,  to  cultivate  the  habit  of  observation,  to 
strengthen  the  judgment,  and  to  make  the  hand  and  eye  more  ready  and 

1  Mr.  Hale's  readers  scarcely  need  be  told  that  Daniel  Webster  is  one  of  his 
heroes. 


308  THE   PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.      [chap.  XIII. 

faithful  servants  of  the  mind.  The  use  of  tools  he  deprecates  as  injurious 
to  the  proper  purposes,  and  as  disparaging  to  the  dignity  of  the  public 
schools ;  while  he  admits  sewing  and  cooking  only  as  burdens  which  the 
schools  may  be  asked  to  carry  for  the  general  good.  Most  of  us,  on  the  con- 
trary, believe  that  the  use  of  tools  in  appropriate  form  and  degree,  and  the 
teaching  of  cooking  and  sewing,  are  as  truly  educational  as  any,  even  the  most 
approved,  of  the  familiar  features  of  the  public  school ;  that  they  supply 
desirable  elements  which  can  be  obtained  at  all,  or  which  can  be  obtained 
as  well,  FROM  NO  OTHER  SOURCE  ;  and  that  they  are  not  only  compatible 
with  the  integrity  and  dignity  of  the  school  system,  but  that  they  promise 
greatly  to  increase  the  general  interest  in  the  schools,  if  not  to  become  the 
very  salvation  of  the  school  system  itself;  while  the  incidental  advantages 
resulting  therefrom  :  — 

In  raising  the  industrial  quality  of  our  people ; 

In  creating  respect  for  labor ; 

In  quickening  the  sense  of  social  decency ; 

In  securing  a  greater  economy  of  the  means  and  the  resources  of  the  very 
poor:  and 

In  promoting  good  citizenship  generally  — 
are,  as  we  esteem  them,  beyond  all  price." 

Dr.  Dickinson  appears  to  me  to  think  that  the  only  outcome 
of  tool-instruction  is  mere  manual  dexterity,  which  he  thinks  has 
no  value  as  a  means  for  promoting  "  the  general  development 
of  active  power."  As  to  the  need  of  a  larger  development  of 
active  power  than  now  obtains,  "  of  turning  the  learner's  mind 
from  words  to  things,"  he  appears  to  be  convinced.  He  says 
truly  that  "  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the  conditions  of 
knowledge  require  the  presence  to  the  mind  of  the  objects  and 
subjects  to  be  known,  and  that  the  cultivation  of  active  power 
requires  a  vigorous  exercise  of  the  faculties  upon  appropriate 
objects  of  thought."  He  admits  that  "  the  pupil  may  become 
an  original  investigator  by  being  trained  to  handle  the  objects 
of  his  investigation.  This  training  leads  to  self-control,  and 
prepares  one  to  take  up  the  work  of  life  with  every  prospect  of 
success."  (Education,  June,  1887.) 

That  is  good  sense,  tho  it  seems  a  little  ambitious.  Still, 
will  the  training  be  without  value  if  the  objects  investigated 
include  woods,  metals,  tools,  and  fabrics?  And  suppose  he 
does  more  than  "  handle  "  them  ?  Handling  things  is  a  great 
deal  better  than  nothing ;  but  to  me,  the  word  suggests  a  very 


Chap,  XIII.]  THE  ERROR    OF  DR.    DICKINSON.  309 

superficial  treatment.  In  addition  to  handling  a  piece  of  wood 
or  a  piece  of  plaster,  an  instrument  or  a  tool,  suppose  he  probes 
it,  and  tests  it,  and  finds  out  the  secrets  of  its  construction,  and 
some  of  its  manifold  uses,  is  it  not  far  better  than  any  mere 
"handling"  can  be?  And  is  it  fruitless  if  such  investigation 
be  not  original  ?  It  is  a  high  ambition  to  be  original,  to  invent ; 
but  very  little  of  a  pupil's  work  can  be  original.  He  follows 
beaten  paths  in  more  than  one  study.  But  the  work  he  does  is 
original  to  him,  in  so  far  as  he  is  conscious  of  doing  things,  of 
solving  things  himself;  arid  original  work  of  that  sort,  in  any 
field,  is  stimulating  and  nutritious  to  the  mind. 

I  am  bound  to  believe  that  Dr.  Dickinson  has  been  misled  as 
to  the  motive  of  shop-work  in  schools  of  secondary  grade,  he  is 
so  afraid  of  trade  or  professional  teaching,  —  a  thing  which  I 
suspect  very  few  thoughtful  people  advocate  in  any  public 
school,  or  school  for  general  training.  And,  again,  I  see  plainly 
that  he  completely  fails  to  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  fruit  of 
judicious  tool-instruction  is  mental  dexterity  rather  than  manual 
dexterity. 

I  find  myself  in  entire  sympathy  with  the  secretary's  final 
statement  of  the  end  and  aim  of  public  instruction  ;  we  differ 
only  in  the  means  to  be  employed.  He  says :  — 

"If  we  desire  to  construct  such  a  system  of  public  instruction  for  the 
youth  of  the  country  as  will  best  prepare  them  to  discharge,  with  efficiency 
and  fidelity,  the  duties  of  private  and  public  life,  let  us  make  ample  provision 
for  the  complete  training  of  the  powers  of  observation,  for  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  facts,  of  analysis  and  comparison,  for  a  knowledge  of  the 
relations  of  things,  of  generalization  and  reasoning,  for  a  knowledge  of  those 
general  truths  from  which  the  rules  of  conduct  should  be  derived,  and,  above 
these  things,  for  that  training  which  leads  to  an  all-controlling  love  of  truth  ; 
and  the  youth  will  take  their  places  in  life,  elevated  above  the  narrowing 
effect  of  any  trade,  occupation,  or  profession,  and  ready  to  enter  upon  any 
service  to  which  they  may  be  called." 

Amen,  and  amen !  and  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them. 
I  am  no  stranger  to  Dr.  Dickinson's  method,  either  as  a  pupil  or 
as  a  teacher  ;  but  I  greatly  fear  that  he  is  a  comparative  stranger 
to  mine.  If  he  would  take  one  half  the  Boston  boys  who  this 
year  complete  the  grammar  school  course,  —  and  there  ought  to 


310  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [chap,  XHL 

be  about  two  thousand  of  them,  —  and  train  one  half  of  them 
his  way,  and  one  half  of  them  my  way,  for  three  years,  and  then 
graduate  them,  and  watch  their  careers  for  ten  years  more,  I  am 
sure  that  he  would  agree  with  me,  that  there  is  not  a  single  ele- 
ment of  narrowness,  or  unmanliness,  or  uii worthiness  in  manual 
training. 

Prof.  Ripper  of  Sheffield,  Eng.,  whom  I  have  already  referred 
to  in  an  early  chapter,-  says :  — 

"  There  is  at  present  absolutely  no  sort  of  connection  between  the  school- 
room and  the  workshop ;  between  the  present  training  and  future  employ- 
ment of  boys.  Work,  workshops,  tools,  materials,  or  workshop  problems 
are  never  mentioned  in  the  school;  they  have  no  place  there;  all  reference 
to  these  things  is  excluded  as  a  sort  of  necessary  evil  which  it  will  be  time 
enough  for  the  children  to  deal  with  when  they  are  obliged.  But  the  present 
grinding,  aimless  system  of  mere  book-learning  and  cram  is  riot  destined  to 
live  much  longer  in  its  present  form." 

The  ambition  of  American  parents,  of  which  Dr.  Hudson  com- 
plains, is  not  then  an  American  invention  ;  we  have  it  by  honest 
inheritance.  When  school  education  was  the  prerogative  of  the 
rich  and  "  high-born,"  nothing  could  be  more  reasonable  than 
that  their  schools  should  aim  to  produce  gentlemen  of  leisure, 
with  polished  manners  and  "  polite "  learning.  The  strange 
thing  is,  that,  when  we  adopted  the  principle  of  universal  edu- 
cation, we  clung  so  tenaciously  to  the  old  curriculum,  and 
blindly  hugged  the  delusion  that  we  were  all  noble,  all  destined 
to  lives  of  elegant  ease  among  cultivated  people. 

Such  being  the  fact,  what  is  the  inevitable  consequence? 
Why,  to  most  people  the  education  we  provide  in  our  secondary 
schools  seems  like  giving  stones  to  hungry  children  who  are 
crying  for  bread.  The  great  mass  of  the  people  think,  that,  be- 
yond the  rudiments,  school  education  is  not  worth  the  getting. 
The  average  child  takes  less  than  half  the  course.  The  extent 
of  one's  school  education  is  generally  determined  by  social  con- 
siderations. The  higher  grades  become  therefore  more  "  select " 
in  the  genteel  sense,  and  both  the  patrons  and  managers  of  such 
grades  are  interested  in  maintaining  their  genteel  character. 

The  class  of  schools  which  the  city  of  St.  Louis  ought,  above 
all  others,  to  maintain  in  the  interest  of  economy,  of  self-defence, 


Chap,  XIII,]     GENTEEL    CHARACTER    OF  PUBLIC   SCHOOLS.     811 

of  benevolence,  and  of  public  decency,  is  not  maintained  at  all. 
I  mean  schools  for  the  ragged,  neglected,  little  outcasts,  who 
wander  homeless  about  our  streets,  and  form  the  recruiting 
ground  for  hoodlums,  thieves,  and  criminals ;  who  fill  our  jails 
and  work-houses ;  and  who  cost  us  per  year  as  much  as  we  now 
pay  for  our  system  of  public  schools.  It  is  a  shame  that  public 
education  shoots  above  the  heads  of  all  such ! 

I  do  not  wish  to  ignore  the  fact  that  much  has  been  done 
in  the  direction  of  adopting  a  program  more  consonant  with 
our  platform  of  universal  education.  The  demands  of  the  age 
were,  a  few  years  since,  recognized  by  a  wide-spread  attempt  to 
introduce  both  natural  science  and  "  industrial "  drawing. 

The  science  study  is  in  a  very  hopeful  state,  tho  it  has 
suffered  greatly  from  incompetent  teachers,  whose  knowledge 
of  science  consisted  of  a  few  feeble  ideas  gathered  from  books, 
and  from  a  complete  lack  of  that  manual  skill  which  is  abso- 
lutely essential  to  the  successful  study  of  science  by  the  method 
of  " things  and  processes"  Moreover,  it  has  materially  helped 
to  make  clear  the  demand  for  skill  of  manipulation  as  the  con- 
dition for  science  study.  Drawing  has  in  many  places  made 
splendid  progress,  but  it  has  failed  as  a  general  thing  to  take 
on  a  universal  character.  It  has  on  the  one  hand  been  special- 
ized into  what  was  largely  imitative  drawing,  given  in  the 
evening  to  those  who  were  at  work  during  the  day ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  has  been  crowded  over  into  the  atmosphere 
of  artistic  drawing  as  more  consonant  with  the  general  air  of 
gentility  in  the  other  work  of  the  school. 

I  have  often  elsewhere  spoken  of  the  comparative  inutility  of 
drawing,  when  not  supplemented  by  laboratory  work  on  wood, 
plaster,  clay,  or  other  suitable  material.  No  teacher,  who,  under 
favorable  conditions,  has  added  executive,  constructive  work  to 
drawing,  can  be  for  a  moment  in  doubt  of  its  beneficial  effect 
upon  the  drawing.  The  following  very  thoughtful  remarks  of 
Supt.  Edwin  P.  Seaver  of  Boston  show  the  result  of  his  careful 
observations. 

"  As  now  pursued,  drawing  has  but  a  vague  and  remote  reference  to  any 
use  beyond  itself.  When  this  branch  was  introduced  into  our  schools,  and 
made  obligatory  by  statute,  the  plea  was,  that  drawing  was  an  important 


812  THE   PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [ Chap.  XIII. 

part  of  industrial  education,  and  industrial  education  was  much  needed  by 
the  people,  especially  the  people  in  the  cities.  This  is  all  true,  and  very 
well  as  far  as  it  goes.  But  abundant  experience  niay  be  cited  to  show  that 
industrial  education  through  drawing  alone  is  work  only  half  done,  and  that 
it  has  for  that  reason  usually  failed.  The  other  half  —  modeling,  carving, 
joining,  turning,  forging,  casting,  weaving,  or  any  other  process  by  which 
material  is  shaped  in  accordance  with  a  preconceived  design  represented  by 
drawings  —  has  hitherto  been  wanting  in  our  schools.  Unless  this  element 
of  construction  is  added,  our  drawing  will  still  fail,  as  it  has  hitherto  failed, 
to  yield  the  full  measure  of  good  results  expected  of  it.  Delineation  and 
construction  —  designing  and  the  working  out  of  the  design  —  are  two 
parts  of  one  whole;  neither  can  have  full  educational  value  without  the 
other.  The  former,  pursued  alone,  is  open  to  all  the  objections  that  may 
properly  be  urged  against  any  abstract  studies  imposed  on  children ;  while 
the  latter,  pursued  alone,  fails  to  give  the  worker  -that  broad,  intelligent 
grasp  of  the  plan  of  his  work,  which  is  a  necessary  element  in  all  true  skill." 

I  cheerfully  grant  that  much  good  has  been  accomplished  by 
these  movements,  though  I  regret  the  use  of  the  word  "  indus- 
trial "  in  connection  with  drawing.  Drawing  is  scarcely  more 
industrial  than  arithmetic,  or  chemistry,  or  physics,  or  penman- 
ship. Nevertheless,  "  industrial "  drawing  has  helped  to  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  broader  and  more  comprehensive  system 
of  manual  training  which  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  help 
introduce.  This  is  not  brought  forward  as  an  exclusively 
industrial  feature,  and  I  decline  to  call  a  manual  training 
school  an  industrial  school.  In  it  we  have  endeavored  to  bring- 
together  the  education  of  the  hand,  and  the  education  of  the 
mind,  in  such  a  way  that  each  is  the  gainer  thereby.  And  we 
have  found  it  possible  to  bring  together  into  one  the  two  edu- 
cations which  some  have  thought  it  necessary  to  separate.  In 
other  words,  we  have  extended  our  scheme  of  education  so  as 
to  include  those  manual  elements  which  are  of  universal  utility 
in  the  education  of  youth. 

And  we  have  discovered,  —  and  here  is  the  principal  point  in 
the  discussion,  —  we  have  found  that  these  manual  elements  can, 
at  the  time  they  are  most  needed,  be  as  successfully  and  economic- 
ally taught  in  the  schoolroom,  by  ordinary  class  methods,  as 
reading  or  arithmetic  are  taught,  and  vastly  more  thoroughly 
and  cheaply  than  the  manual  elements  can  be  taught  anywhere 
else.  The  burden  of  complaint  has  been  that  they  have  not 


Chap,  Xm.]      HOME  MANUAL    TRAINING   A    FAILURE.  313 

been  taught  at  all  anywhere.  There  can  be  no  comparison 
between  two  systems,  one  of  which  succeeds,  while  the  other 
fails. 

But  it  may  be  urged,  that,  in  well-to-do  families,  children  are 
sometimes  given  manual  instruction  at  home,  and  that  the  sons 
have  received  a  species  of  manual  training  as  apprentices  in  a 
commercial  establishment.  It  is  thought  that  these  methods  are 
better  than  the  method  I  recommend.  Let  me  examine  them. 

Against  the  results  of  the  family  method,  nothing  can  be  said 
if  it  is  well  carried  out.  It  may  be  thorough,  generous,  and 
wholesome  in  every  way.  It  may  possibly  lack  the  spur  and 
stimulus  of  a  score  of  other  minds,  what  Dr.  Harris  so  admirably 
calls  the  "  leverage  of  the  class."  But  it  is  exceedingly  expen- 
sive. None  but  the  rich  can  give  what  we  place  within  the 
reach  of  all.  The  cost  of  a  private  tutor  always  exceeds  tuition 
fees  and  school  taxes ;  much  more  would  home  manual  training 
exceed  its  cost  in  a  good  school.  But  the  supposition  that 
home  manual  training  is  well  done  is  quite  unusual.  Suppose, 
rather,  that  a  father  does  his  best,  and  teaches  his  son  the  petty 
details  of  his  own  craft  or  occupation.  On  the  average,  how 
wretchedly  narrow  that  training  must  be !  In  the  average 
family,  the  parents  are  incompetent  to  teach  much  that  it  is 
highly  desirable  that  the  children  should  learn  even  of  their 
own  occupations. 

"The  specialization  of  manufactures  has  been  carried  so  far,  that,  in 
some  departments,  an  operative  often  need  not  be  a  mechanic  in  any  sense 
of  that  term  ;  using  only  a  single  tool,  and  performing  only  a  single  simple 
operation  from  one  year's  end  to  another.  Even  the  mechanic  arts  have  been 
differentiated,  until  individual  skill  has  largely  gone  out  of  them.  The 
carpenter  of  the  old  days  made  sash,  doors,  and  blinds ;  he  planed,  matched, 
and  grooved  his  boards ;  he  built  his  stairways ;  he  did  a  hundred  things 
requiring  dexterity  and  fine  workmanship. 

"  To-day  few  of  them  are  capable  of  giving  their  children  that  instruction 
in  mechanic  arts  which  every  father  in  the  olden  time  gave  his  boys  as  a 
matter  of  course.  Such,  and  so  extensive,  have  been  the  changes  in  the 
social  conditions  of  our  people."  —  PREST.  FRANCIS  A.  WALKER. 

Go  into  the  first  public  school  you  see,  and  learn  the  occupa- 
tions, or  crafts,  or  callings  of  all  the  fathers  of  the  boys  therein. 


314  THE  PROVINCE  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [Chap,  XIII, 

You  ^will  find  that  one  half  of  them  have  no  well-defined  craft 
or  professional  training.  You  will  find  under  the  head  of 
"clerks"  and  "laborers"  two  thirds  of  the  whole  number,  if 
correctly  reported.  Now  I  say,  suppose  these  men  do  teach 
their  sons  just  what  they  themselves  know,  what  a  sorry  prep- 
aration they  have  for  an  intelligent  choice  of  occupation  !  It 
is  clear  that  they  have  no  choice  at  all.  It  is  merely  the 
European  idea  of  an  inherited  occupation,  and  must  ever  result 
in  the  establishment  of  the  worst  kind  of  caste  distinctions. 

The  experience  of  Europe  has  abundantly  shown  that  home 
training  for  life  not  only  perpetuates  caste,  but  degrades  the 
industries  of  a  people.  They  have  found  that  even  when  a 
father  has  a  trade,  and  wishes  to  teach  it  to  his  son,  he  can  not 
teach  it  as  intelligently  arid  thoroughly  as  it  can  be  taught  in  a 
trade  school. 

Hence  a  school  is  better  than  home  training  in  handiwork. 
I  will  now  show  that  a  manual  training  school  is  better  than 
any  system  of  apprenticeship,  and  hence  better  than  any  trade 
school,  for  the  purpose  of  general  training. 

To  the  commercial  method,  of  more  or  less  formal  apprentice- 
ship, several  very  serious  objections  arise.  First  and  foremost, 
the  apprentice  stops  going  to  school.  His  mathematical,  scien- 
tific, and  literary  training  stops  the  moment  he  enters  upon  his 
effort  to  secure  manual  training.  This  fact  alone  ought  to  kill 
the  old  style  of  apprenticeship.  It  has  degraded  all  mechanical 
pursuits,  —  not  simply  brought  them  into  bad  repute,  but  has 
actually  degraded  them,  —  and  has  given  rise  to  the  notion  that 
a  mechanic  needs  110  education  beyond  the  rudiments  of  the 
grammar  school,  aside  from  what  he  picks  up  at  his  trade. 

Then,  again,  in  apprenticeship  at  any  kind  of  tool-work,  the 
boy  is  not  taught  drawing  as  a  part  of  his  trade ;  and  yet  tool- 
work,  however  skillful,  without  drawing  is  the  thinnest  sort  of 
apology  for  manual  training.  Not  one  journeyman  mechanic  in 
a  hundred  is  as  good  a  draughtsman,  or  as  intelligent  in  read- 
ing drawings,  as  the  graduate  of  a  manual  training  school. 

Thirdly,  the  ordinary  apprentice  gets  at  best  a  very  narrow 
kind  of  manual  training.  He  is  made  familiar  with  a  very 
limited  range  of  work,  and  he  is  kept  at  that  far  beyond  the 


Chap,  Xni]      INFERIORITY  OF  COMMERCIAL  METHOD.  315 

needs  of  intelligent  mastery,  till  the  mechanical  habits  of  a 
rapid  workman  are  fully  formed.  Henceforth  his  handiwork  is 
the  result  of  habit,  not  of  thought,  and  his  intellectual  progress 
as  connected  with  his  work  is  at  an  end. 

Can  the  value  of  such  a  training  be  compared  with  that  given 
in  a  school  where  the  intellect  is  ever  on  the  alert,  and  where 
we  introduce  the  widest  possible  range  of  tools,  materials,  and 
processes  ? 

But  it  may  be  urged  in  reply  to  all  this,  that  the  apprentice 
is  all  the  while  earning  some  money  ;  and,  again,  he  is  saving 
much  time  by  getting  into  good  paying  employment. 

There  is  truth  in  the  first  objections.  The  apprentice  usually 
does  get,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  some  pay  even  for  the  first  year. 
It  may  be  only  fifty  dollars,  but  it  is  something ;  and  it  works 
badly  in  two  ways.  On  the  one  side,  it  reconciles  the  parent, 
who  may  be  very  poor,  or  lazy,  or  indifferent  to  the  boy's  high- 
est welfare,  to  a  very  poor  and  unprofitable  arrangement,  and 
it  may  gratify  the  boy's  dangerous  appetite  for  spending  money ; 
on  the  other  side,  it  appears  to  justify  the  employer  in  keeping 
the  lad  at  unprogressive  work,  on  the  plea  that  he  should  earn 
his  wages. 

As  to  the  saving  of  time  in  reaching  good  wages,  it  is  very 
doubtful  if  such  is  the  case.  It  is  the  bird  in  the  hand  in  pref- 
erence to  several  in  the  bush.  Take  the  boys  who  have  been 
out  of  the  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School  a  year  and  a  half, 
and  who  consequently  entered  school  four  years  and  a  half  ago  : 
how  does  the  average  of  their  wages  compare  with  those  of 
average  journeymen  mechanics  who  began  their  apprenticeship 
four  years  and  a  half  ago  ?  And  how  will  it  be  five  or  ten  years 
hence  ?  (See  p.  156  as  to  the  wages  actually  received  by  manual 
graduates,  and  Mr.  Foley's  testimony,  p.  198.) 

But  there  is  a  fourth  argument  against  the  commercial  way 
of  getting  manual  training,  which  to  some  may  outweigh  all 
the  rest,  serious  as  they  appear  to  be ;  and  that  is  this :  To  put 
a  boy  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  old  to  learn  a  trade  as  an  appren- 
tice, is,  as  a  rule,  to  commit  him  to  that  trade  for  life,  without 
intelligent  choice  of  occupation,  and  with  little  chance  for  cor- 
recting a  mistake  if  one  is  made.  It  is  a  crime  against  freedom 


316  THE  PEOVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.      [dhap.  XHL 

and  humanity.  Few  people,  not  forced  by  cruel  necessity,  are 
willing  to  take  such  serious  risks,  for  such  questionable  gain. 

There  are  plenty  of  people  whose  mental  make-up  is  such, 
that,  while  they  may  succeed  fairly  in  other  paths  of  labor,  they 
are  unfit  to  be  mechanics.  They  have  not  the  ability,  the 
proper  mental  qualities.  To  set  such  people  to  learn  trades,  is 
most  unfortunate.  They  are  sure  to  be  low-grade,  indifferent 
workmen,  always  struggling  against  a  fate  which  a  better 
knowledge  of  their  capacities  would  have  avoided.  The  fact  is 
that,  until  one  has  had  an  opportunity  to  develop  his  faculties, 
neither  he  nor  his  teachers  can  tell  what  his  "bent"  is,  nor 
what  there  is  in  him. 

The  student  of  a  manual  training  school  takes  all  his  work 
without  bias.  There  is  no  presumption  either  for  or  against  a 
particular  line  of  work  in  life.  He  is  as  free  as  it  is  possible  to 
be.  He  probably  changes  his  mind  every  year  on  the  subject 
of  what  occupation  he  is  best  fitted  for.  At  the  end  of  his 
school  course,  however,  he  is  likely  to  see  clearly  where  he  is 
weak,  and  where  he  is  strong,  and  to  make  his  choice  in  the 
direction  of  his  strength. 

To  sum  up  the  objections  against  the  commercial  method  of 
getting  manual  training  as  compared  with  the  school  method :  — 

1.  The  apprentice  gives  up  all  further  mathematical,  scientific, 
and  literary  training. 

2.  He  fails  to  learn  practical  draughting. 

3.  He  gets  a  very  narrow  training,  limited  to  the  details  of  a 
single  trade,  often  less  than  a  single  trade. 

4.  He  hazards  all  on  a  single  choice  of  occupation,  without 
trustworthy  knowledge  of  his  abilities  or  his  tastes. 

The  conclusions  I  reach  may  be  thus  concisely  stated. 

1.  Every  child  should  have  systematic  mental  training  and 
manual  training. 

2.  These  two  kinds  of  training  should  be  given  side  by  side, 
and  simultaneously  in  school. 

3.  The  manual  training  thus  given  is  far  more  thorough,  far 
more  valuable,  and  far  better  supplemented  by  other  culture, 
and  is  gained  far  more  cheaply  than  that  gained  in  any  other 
way. 


Chap,  Xin,]     MANUAL    TRAINING   BREAKS  DOWN  CASTE.      317 

I  am  not  unacquainted  with  the  various  objections  urged 
against  the  introduction  of  manual  training  in  public  education. 
Some  claim  that  it  would  introduce  the  idea  of  caste.  Such 
people  do  not  realize  the  extent  to  which  caste  already  exists 
in  connection  with  education.  The  very  objection  suggests 
that  in  the  mind  of  the  objector  manual  training  is  socially  low- 
grade,  as  compared  with  ordinary  academic  training.  In  point 
of  fact  I  doubt  if  such  is  the  case  to  any  great  extent ;  and  to 
the  extent  that  it  may  be  true,  it  is  the  result  of  a  false  estimate 
of  what  manual  training  is.  I  doubt  if  in  any  well-organized 
manual  training  school,  or  in  the  community  around  it,  there 
has  been  any  increase  of  the  caste  feeling  in  consequence  of  the 
school.  On  the  contrary,  I  believe  the  effect  is  just  the  other 
way.  If  there  were  any  force  in  the  objection,  it  would  be  seen 
more  clearly  in  England  than  here.  This  is  what  an  English 
teacher  of  experience  says  :  — 

"It  has  been  charged  against  those  who  advocate  manual  training,  that 
they  belong  to  that  class  which  would  deny  the  working-man's  child  a  liberal 
education  ;  and  that,  by  introducing  it,  we  would  perpetuate  caste  and  hate- 
ful class  distinctions.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the  actual  facts.  We 
say,  let  the  education  of  every  child  in  the  United  Kingdom  be  as  thorough 
and  as  liberal  as  you  can  make  it,  and  after  that  add  to  it  manual  training 
as  a  practical  and  useful  finish. 

"  As  to  its  perpetuating  caste,  we  contend  that  the  higher  the  grade  of 
the  school,  the  more  thorough  should  be  the  manual  training ;  and  we 
believe  there  are  few  things  which  would  more  effectually  break  down  fash- 
ionable contempt  of  manual  labor." 

Some  persons  appear  to  object  to  manual  training  as  a  feature 
of  general  education  on  educational  grounds ;  and  yet,  if  you 
examine  their  position  carefully,  you  will  find  that  the  objec- 
tion is  more  social  than  anything  else.  What  is  it,  for  instance, 
but  an  inconsistent  and  ungenerous  fling  at  manual  training, 
to  discredit,  on  the  one  hand,  the  claims  of  systematic  tool- 
instruction  as  one  of  the  features  of  general  education  ;  and 
then,  on  the  other,  to  assert  that  "  in  schools  for  Indian  youth, 
freedmen,  the  blind,  the  deaf,  orphans,  paupers,  truants,  etc., 
it  is  wise  and  important  to  combine  general  and  industrial  train- 
ing "  ?  I  am  quoting  the  exact  language  of  Supt.  E.  E.  White 
of  Cincinnati. 


318  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [dhap,  XIII, 

You  see  Mr.  White  classifies  people,  and  says  it  is  wise  to 
give  manual  training  to  some,  but  not  to  others ;  and  the  basis 
of  his  classification  is  not  intellectual  nor  moral  —  it  is  social. 
Take  the  fifteen  hundred  orphans  at  Girard  College  in  Phila- 
delphia; they  are  between  the  ages  of  six  and  sixteen.  Mr. 
White  says  it  is  wise  to  mix  manual  training  with  their  mental 
training.  So  say  I.  What  would  Secretary  Dickinson  say? 
Now,  why  do  Mr.  White  and  I  say,  combine  manual  with  their 
mental  training?  Evidently,  because  we  believe  that  such  a 
combination  is  most  likely  to  accomplish  the  high  ends  so  well 
expressed  by  Dr.  Dickinson.  Now  if  it  be  true,  as  Mr.  White 
and  I  believe,  that  the  high  aims  of  education  are  best  secured 
to  those  fifteen  hundred  orphans  by  such  a  combination,  why 
will  not  those  ends  be  equally  well  secured  to  fifteen  hundred 
other  Philadelphia  boys  who  are  not  orphans  ? 

Here  Mr.  White  and  I  part  company.  He  says,  the  moment 
you  step  into  a  school  where  the  boys  are  not  orphans,  or  tru- 
ants, or  paupers,  or  negroes,  or  Indians,  it  is  no  longer  wise  and 
important  to  combine  mental  and  manual  training ;  the  mental 
is  better  alone.  I  say  no  — a  thousand  times,  no.  Let  us  give 
the  best  we  have  to  all,  whether  it  be  the  old  or  the  new. 
Away  with  all  such  social  distinctions.  In  his  language,  if  not 
in  his  thought,  Mr.  White  reflects  upon  the  character  and 
social  standing  of  manual  training.  He  would  have  it  appear 
that  it  is  not  good  enough  for  respectable  boys ;  and  when  he 
sandwiches  the  unfortunate  between  truants  and  paupers  on 
the  one  hand,  and  freedmen  and  Indian  youth  on  the  other,  I 
can  not  avoid  the  conclusion  that  he  thinks  that  it  is  not  respect- 
able to  be  an  orphan,  to  be  blind,  or  deaf. 

I  protest  against  the  tendency  of  Mr.  White's  position. 

And  when  Mr.  Dickinson  declares  against  the  method  of 
manual  training,  which  I  have  found  so  fruitful  in  good  results, 
educational  and  economical,  I  can  not  avoid  asking,  What  sort 
of  boys  is  he  thinking  of?  Is  he  thinking  as  fully  and  impar- 
tially of  those  who  are  to  carry  on  and  direct  and  develop  the 
thousand  and  one  mechanical  occupations  of  the  next  twenty- 
five  years,  as  he  is  of  those  who  are  to  devote  themselves  to 
literature  and  art  and  science  and  to  professional  life  ?  The 


Chap,  Xm,]       THE  MANUAL   NOT  A    SPECIAL   SCHOOL.  319 

manual  training  school  thinks  as  much  of  the  one  set  as  of  the 
other.  The  children  of  the  people  for  whom  public  education 
is  provided,  in  whose  service  you  and  I  are  engaged,  do  not  all 
wear  kid  gloves  nor  eat  with  silver  spoons.  Let  us  so  train 
them  all,  that  they  will  be  strong  and  self-reliant,  independent 
and  free.  Let  their  education  be  first  broad  and  generous, 
before  it  becomes  special.  Let  us  make  it  thoroughly  human 
by  developing  all  their  God-given  human  faculties  and  sympa- 
thies symmetrically ;  in  short,  let  us  put  the  whole  boy  to 
school. 

Others  claim  that  a  manual  training  school  is  a  "  special " 
school.  If  it  is  special  to  omit  Greek  from  its  curriculum, 
and  to  give  but  one-third  of  the  book  study  to  language  and 
literature  ;  if  it  is  special  to  give  but  a  moderate  attention 
to  commercial  arithmetic  and  book-keeping ;  to  give  more  than 
the  usual  attention  to  elementary  science,  and  at  the  same  time 
an  equally  moderate  attention  to  practical  drawing  and  the 
principles  and  processes  which  underlie  half  the  occupations 
of  our  people,  —  then  the  manual  training  school  is  a  special 
school.  But  certainly  it  is  no  more  special  than,  for  instance, 
any  one  of  the  high  schools  of  Boston.  That  city  has  a 
"  normal  school "  for  girls,  with  special  reference  to  teaching ; 
a  "  Latin  High  "  for  boys,  with  special  reference  to  being  law- 
yers, physicians,  or  clerg}^men ;  and  an  "  English  High "  for 
boys  intending  to  enter  mercantile  life.  Such  schools  may  be 
right  and  proper,  and  be  demanded  by  the  needs  of  a  great  city. 
For  them  she  does  not  and  ought  not  to  shrink  from  spending 
large  sums  of  public  money. 

But  what  equally  generous  provision  does  she  make  for  those 
other  Boston  boys,  who  out-number  these  several  times  over,  and 
who  need,  and  are  capable  of  receiving,  some  preparation  for 
the  business  of  their  lives?  None.  These  boys  must  either  go 
to  their  work  with  no  training  beyond  that  of  the  grammar 
schools,  or  they  must  content  themselves  with  the  preliminary 
training  of  a  lawyer  or  a  merchant. 

But  I  do  not  admit  that  a  manual  training  school  is  a  special 
school.  It  is  the  "Latin"  school  and  the  "English  High"  that 
are  special.  Take  a  list  of  the  Boston  boys  between  fourteen 


320  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [Ohap,  XIII. 

and  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  see  how  many  of  them  need 
Greek,  and  how  many  need  manual  training.  Then  take  the 
graduates  of  a  high  school  and  of  a  manual  training  school 
which  have  stood  side  by  side  long  enough  to  afford  a  basis  of 
comparison,  and  see  which  set  of  graduates  has  scattered  most 
widely  into  occupations  requiring  cultivated  brains. 

No,  I  am  clearly  of  the  opinion  that  the  high  school  people 
have  no  right  to  call  the  manual  a  "  special "  school.  It  is  not 
special  to  train  the  whole  boy,  except  as  a  historical  fact. 

Mr.  Thomas  Davidson  in  the  Forum  for  April,  1887,  comes 
to  the  conclusion  that  my  position  is  altogether  correct.  He 
says : — 

"  It  appears  to  me,  that,  for  a  very  large  portion  of  our  people,  manual 
training  is  one  of  the  very  first  of  educational  necessaries.  I  am  strongly 
in  favor  of  public  high  schools  and  colleges  ;  but  I  maintain,  that,  if  any 
community  can  not  support  both  high  schools  and  manual  training  schools, 
it  is  bound  to  give  precedence  to  the  latter.  Nay,  more,  if  any  community 
now  supports  high  schools,  but  has  no  manual  training  schools,  it  is  bound 
to  exchange  the  former  for  the  latter,  or  else  maintain  both. 

"  I  am,  therefore,  thoroughly  convinced  that  our  public  education  would, 
in  every  way,  be  a  gainer  if  our  high  schools  and  colleges  were  turned  into 
manual  training  schools  after  the  model  of  those  in  Chicago  and  St.  Louis.'* 

I  have  said  that  we  do  not  teach  trades;  but  some  people 
declare  that  we  do  teach  them,  or  try  to  do  so.  Such  people  do 
not  know  what  is  involved  in  learning  a  trade.  They  do  not 
realize  that  in  learning  a  trade  one  must  learn  the  business ;  he 
must  learn  the  money  value  of  time  and  of  materials.  He  must 
learn  to  draw  the  line  between  economy  of  material  and  econ- 
omy of  labor  in  the  design  and  construction  of  articles.  He  must 
learn  to  compare  various  methods  of  effecting  the  same  result, 
and  be  able  to  select  the  one  which  in  a  given  case  is  best.  He 
must  be  prepared  for  competition.  These  things,  for  the  most 
part,  can  not  be  learned  at  school ;  and,  tho  such  matters  might 
have  a  certain  value  for  all  persons,  it  would  be  manifestly 
unwise  to  try  to  put  them  into  a  school. 

As  regards  what  we  can  not  and  do  not  try  to  teach,  I  will 
quote  a  word  from  that  very  keen  observer  and  successful  man 
of  business,  William  Mather,  Esq.,  manufacturer,  Manchester, 


Chap,  XHl]          WHAT  A    SCHOOL    CAN  NOT  TEACH.  321 

Eng.,    late    Royal    Commissioner    of   Education    to    America, 
recently  member  of  Parliament  from  Salford :  — 

"  There  is  no  possibility  of  teaching  in  a  school  that  sort  of  knowledge 
which  practical  work,  carried  out  on  commercial  principles,  within  restric- 
tions as  to  time  of  execution,  etc.,  can  alone  make  any  one  familiar  with." 
—  Technical  Education  in  Russia  (p.  12). 

THE  POLICY   OF   THE   SHOP. 

I  have  been  criticised  because  I  have  refused  to  entertain  the 
idea  of  making  articles  to  sell,  even  when  it  would  appear  that 
I  could  do  so  as  well  as  not.  Let  us  look  at  the  matter  a 
moment,  and  see  if  I  am  not  right. 

Suppose  correct  translations  of  Caesar  or  Voltaire  could  be 
sold  at  so  much  a  line,  without  regard  to  the  translator ;  nay, 
suppose  that  the  best  translations  sold  for  the  most  money,  and 
that  poor  work  was  a  drug  in  the  market.  Now,  if  we  add  the 
farther  suppositions,  that  translations  of  old  passages  sell  as 
well  as  of  new  ones,  and  that  all  the  money  received  goes  into 
the  school  treasury,  you  have  the  parallel  conditions  under 
which  each  and  every  pupil  is  to  be  well  and  broadly  trained  in 
Latin  and  French. 

Under  such  conditions  (assuming  money  to  be  an  object,  and 
that  is  what  my  critics  assume),  would  not  the  teacher  be  likely 
to  touch  up  a  great  many  translations  himself?  Would  he  not 
probably  translate  all  the  hard  passages  himself?  Would  he 
not  be  apt  to  give  the  more  difficult  parts  to  the  ablest  boys  ? 
And  would  he  not  be  sorely  tempted  to  keep  his  class  on  a  few 
popular  selections  as  soon  as  they  had  shown  that  they  could 
translate  them  acceptably  ?  Think  you  the  moral  effect  on  the 
school  would  be  good  ?  Under  such  conditions  I  think  a  good 
school  would  be  a  moral  impossibility. 

Now  there  are  plenty  of  good  workmen  whose  only  standard 
of  success  is  the  income  of  the  shop,  whose  only  criterion  of 
excellence  is  salability.  The  finished  work  is  the  grand  desid- 
eratum, no  matter  how  nor  by  whom  made.  —  Beware  of  such 
men.  Do  not  make  them  teachers  of  your  sons,  or  give  them 
the  control  of  your  school. 

Let  me  make  an  extract  on  this  point  of  policy,  from  a  paper 


322  THE  PROVINCE  OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [Chap,  XIII, 

it  was  my  privilege  to  present  to  the  American  Society  of 
Mechanical  Engineers  at  its  Chicago  meeting  in  May,  1886, 
upon  "  The  Training  of  a  Dynamic  Engineer."  The  paper  was 
in  part  a  reply  to  one  by  Prof.  Alden  of  the  Worcester  Free 
Institute.  I  said :  — 

"  Prof.  Alden  believes  in  a  commercial  shop  where  real  busi- 
ness is  done,  and  where  commercial  standards  are  used.  He 
admits  that  '  such  a  plan  would  not  have  been  developed  as  the 
outgrowth  of  a  school,'  and  says  it  was  made  a  necessary  con- 
dition of  the  acceptance  of  the  donation  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Worcester  shop.  Nevertheless,  he  appears  to  regard  it  as 
the  best  means  for  securing  the  end  sought ;  viz.,  the  education 
and  training  of  the  students  in  practical  mechanics.  According 
to  Prof.  Alden,  the  question  is,  '  whether  the  shop  shall,  first,  be 
a  place  where  business  is  done,  in  order  that  there  may  be  some- 
thing practical  for  the  students  to  learn  ;  or  whether  it  shall  be 
a  place  fitted  with  tools,  where  only  their  use  and  the  processes 
of  shop  practice  are  taught.'  He  decides  for  the  former,  I  have 
decided  for  the  latter. 

"  The  first  thing  to  do  in  the  shops  of  a  school  is  to  teach  the 
use  of  tools,  and  the  processes  of  the  arts ;  the  question  of 
what  shall  be  done  with  the  incidental  products  is  a  secondary 
matter.  Our  exercises  are  so  designed  that  their  execution 
shall  be  as  instructive  as  possible,  and  not  at  all  with  a  view  to 
sale.  We  can  not  afford  to  fill  orders :  the  moment  a  boy  is  fit 
to  fill  an  order  involving  only  old  exercises,  he  must  turn  his 
attention  to  new  ones.  We  aim  to  put  but  one  article  upon 
the  market ;  viz.,  boys. 

"  Not  that  we  hold,  as  Prof.  Alden  appears  to  think,  that  the 
sale  of  an  article  produced  as  an  exercise  '  would  in  some  way 
render  the  practice  unfit  to  be  associated  with  a  school.'  We 
make  no  attempt  to  sell  their  drawings,  their  surveys,  their  Eng- 
lish essays,  their  physical  apparatus,  or  their  chemical  analyses : 
so  we  do  not  aim  to  sell  their  shop-work.  I  think  the  policy 
of  deliberately  manufacturing  for  the  market  is  unwise  or 
mischievous  in  three  ways :  — 

"1.  The  orders  which  the  superintendent  can  get,  and  the 
sequence  in  which  he  gets  them,  are  greatly  inferior,  in  the 


Of   THt 

XJNIVBB8IM 

Chap,  Xni,]  THE  POLICY  OF  THE 


opportunities  they  offer  for  logical  treatment  and  fullness  of 
instruction,  to  the  orders  which  he  is  capable  of  designing. 

"  2.  The  pecuniary  risk  involved  in  the  execution  of  a  delicate 
operation  on  a  large  or  complicated  article  is  liable  to  lead  the 
skilled  instructor  to  do  with  his  own  hands  in  every  case  what 
each  student  should  have  a  chance  to  practice  upon  for  himself. 

"  3.  In  spite  of  all  efforts  to  the  contrary,  the  filling  of  actual 
orders  is  sure  to  involve  not  only  a  dearth  of  the  most  instruc- 
tive processes,  but  an  excess  of  the  simpler  steps,  continued 
practice  in  which  ceases  to  be  of  any  subjective  value,  and 
which,  therefore,  results  in  a  waste  of  time  and  loss  of  interest.1 

"  All  of  my  shop-teachers  were  trained  in  business  shops,  one 
of  them  at  the  Worcester  Institute  ;  and  yet  after  several  years 
of  experience,  in  which  they  have  combined  exercises  of  their 
own  design,  with  the  execution  of  projects  more  or  less  com- 
plicated and  quite  analogous  to  outside  orders,  they  are  more 
and  more  in  favor  of  their  own  exercises  for  the  purpose  of 
instruction. 

"  As  regards  the  interest  which  students  take  in  their  work, 
we  have  found  no  lack  of  it  in  judicious  exercises.  At  the 
same  time,  we  have  no  objection  to  putting  to  actual  use  such  of 
our  exercises  as  will  admit  of  it.  During  the  past  year,  every 
student  of  the  graduating  class  of  the  Manual  Training  School 
has  been  required  to  make,  as  a  lathe  exercise,  three  small  and 
three  large  bolts  with  their  nuts.  Now  the  first  bolt  finished 
was  likely  to  be  poor;  the  last  in  each  set  was  likely  to  be 
good.  Such  being  the  case,  we  had  no  wish  for  the  class  to 
make  more.  Our  object  was  secured.  We  could  not  stop  to 
make  more,  even  to  fill  an  order.  With  a  full  knowledge  of  all 
the  facts,  a  St.  Louis  firm,  of  whom  we  bought  iron  and  steel, 
offered  to  let  us  have  all  the  material  we  needed  for  this  exer- 
cise if  we  would  let  them  have  the  finished  bolts  when  we  were 
through  with  them.  This  offer  we  accepted. 

1  Prof.  S.  W.  Robinson  of  Columbus,  O.,  added  a  fourth  objection  to  a  com- 
mercial policy  as  the  result  of  his  own  experience;  viz.,  a  practical  sacrifice  of 
all  instruction  to  the  demands  of  the  shop  whenever  it  was  necessary  to  fill  orders 
on  time. 


324  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.       [Chap. 


THE   STUDY   OF   MONEY  VALUES. 

"Secondly,  I  wish  to  consider  an  argument  offered  by  the 
superintendent  of  the  '  Miller  Manual  Labor  School '  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  says  in  his  catalog  of  1885 :  '  We  consider  it  part 
of  the  instruction  of  the  shop  to  teach  boys  the  value  of  labor, 
the  increased  value  of  skilled  labor,  and  the  still  greater  value 
of  an  educated  mind  guiding  a  trained  hand.'  And,  again: 
4  We  feel  sure  that  no  course  of  shop  instruction  will  be  com- 
plete that  does  not  take  cognizance  of  the  value  of  material  and 
the  value  of  labor.'  It  is  probable  that  by  4  value  '  is  meant 
only  money  value. 

"  This  sounds  well,  and  the  objects  aimed  at  are  worthy ;  but 
I  doubt  their  success  in  this  direction.  A  learner  can  get  no 
correct  idea  of  the  money  value  of  his  time  or  of  the  education 
he  is  getting.  His  time  is  well  spent  in  learning,  even  if  he 
spends  six  hours  in  doing  what  an  expert  would  do  in  less  than 
one.  Take  mechanical  drawing,  for  instance.  A  boy  at  school 
makes  but  one  good  drawing  of  a  kind.  He  knows  how  long 
it  took  him  to  do  it,  but  he  does  not  know  how  long  it  would 
take  him  to  duplicate  it;  much  less  does  he  know  what  an 
experienced  draughtsman  can  do.  Speed  comes  with  long  prac- 
tice, which  a  school  ought  not  to  try  to  give.  It  is  the  same 
with  shop-work. 

"As  to  his  making  a  just  comparison  between  skilled  and 
unskilled  labor,  and  between  an  ignorant  and  an  educated  work- 
man, it  is  clearly  out  of  the  question.  Only  long  experience  in 
employing  and  directing  workmen  of  all  grades  of  intelligence 
and  skill  gives  opportunity  for  reliable  judgment  on  these 
points.  Of  course,  our  boys  feel  the  difference  between  know- 
ing and  not  knowing,  between  thoughtfulness  and  thoughtless- 
ness ;  but  the  money  value  of  that  difference  is  beyond  their 
horizon.  So  in  their  study  of  political  economy  they  get  ideas 
about  wages,  and  the  value  of  skill,  both  mental  and  manual ; 
but  such  ideas  can  not  be  called  knowledge  until  confirmed  by 
personal  experience  in  the  real  work  of  life. 

"  Neither  do  I  think  much  is  to  be  gained  in  discussing  the 
cost  of  materials.  Economy  may  be  taught  even  if  the  material 


Chap,  Xin.]  THE   STUDY  OF   VALUES.  325 

costs  nothing.  We  can  teach  intrinsic  values  without  meddling 
with  market  values.  The  former  are  permanent,  the  latter 
fluctuating. 

"  It  is  only  when  the  student  is  preparing  directly  for  the 
responsibilities  of  professional  life,  that  a  systematic  considera- 
tion of  market  values  finds  appropriate  place. 

"Let  it  be  said  that  there  are  many  things  which  can  not 
be  taught  or  learned  at  school.  A  West  Point  cadet  can  not  be 
drilled  in  the  presence  of  flying  bullets  and  bursting  shells, 
tho  exercise  under  such  conditions  is  the  'real  business,'  the 
'something  practical,'  which  the  real  soldier  must  some  time 
learn.  The  law  student  argues  before  a  4  moot '  court ;  it  is 
only  the  lawyer  who  engages  in  real  business  before  a  real 
court.  So  the  medical  student  amputates  and  dissects  dead 
men,  leaving  living  people  to  those  who,  worthily  or  unworthily, 
have  received  their  diplomas. 

"  In  like  manner,  while  a  school  can  successfully  teach  and 
train  students  in  the  details  of  shop-work,  as  a  matter  of  applied 
mechanics  and  practical  mechanism,  and  as  a  means  for  the 
development  of  mental  power,  it  will  not  wisely  undertake  to 
train  them  in  the  actual  transaction  of  business.  Such  training 
lies  outside  the  walls  of  even  an  engineering  school ;  and  any 
attempt  to  bring  it  in  is  sure,  in  my  opinion,  to  result  in  deep- 
seated  errors,  in  false  estimates,  and  in  a  diminished  regard 
for  those  intrinsic  values,  those  immutable  laws,  and  those  per- 
manent factors  which  are  of  universal  application,  and  which 
most  reward  careful  study." 

In  conclusion,  let  us  not  fear  to  build  our  own  house.  Let 
us  not  fear  to  strike  out  for  ourselves  when  the  age  demands 
something  new.  Progress  is  essential  to  life;  as  Browning 

says : — 

"  'Tis  a  life-long  toil  till  our  lump  be  leaven. 

The  better !     What's  come  to  perfection  perishes." 

I  see  nowhere,  in  either  ancient  or  modern  times,  a  people 
whose  youth  have  been  trained  as  our  youth  should  be  trained. 
Neither  Babylon,  nor  Athens,  nor  Rome,  with  their  pinnacles 
of  culture  resting  on  the  barbarous  foundation  of  human 


326  THE  PROVINCE   OF  PUBLIC  EDUCATION.      [Chap,  XIII, 

slavery;  nor  the  blooded  aristocracies  of  more  modern  times, 
buttressed  and  supported  by  millions  of  laborers  ground  down 
in  ignorance,  poverty,  and  superstition,  —  none  of  these  can 
teach  us  how  to  educate,  construct,  and  adorn  an  American 
citizen.  The  world's  work  must  be  done.  Let  it  be  done  intel- 
ligently and  well.  No  narrow,  selfish  aim,  no  prejudice  of 
caste,  no  false  claim  of  high  culture,  must  mislead  our  pupils. 

Give  them  a  generous,  symmetrical  training ;  open  wide  the 
avenues  to  success,  to  usefulness,  to  happiness,  to  power ;  and 
this  age  of  scientific  progress  and  material  wealth  shall  be  also 
an  age  of  high  intellectual  and  social  progress. 

NOTE.  Portions  of  this  chapter  were  read  at  the  Chicago  meeting  of  the 
National  Educational  Association,  in  July,  1887. 


Chap.  XIV,]  MANUAL    TRAINING  IN  ENGLAND.  327 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

EUROPEAN    SCHOOLS. 

IT  is  possible  that  my  readers  may  wish  to  know  to  what 
extent  I  am  familiar  with  tool-instruction  in  other  lands, 
and  how  far  trans-Atlantic  theory  and  practice  agree  with  ours. 

In  1885  I  spent  five  months  on  a  tour  of  observation  and 
inspection  of  English  and  European  schools  of  higher  and  lower 
grades,  visiting  them  while  in  full  operation. 

There  have  been  a  great  many  reports  upon  these  matters,  so 
that  I  shall  confine  myself  to  a  brief  statement  of  the  compara- 
tive values  and  aims  of  the  several  kinds  of  schools  I  visited.1 

In  England  very  little  had  been  done  in  the  direction  of 
manual  training. 

Finsbury  College  in  London  was  the  only  good  school  I  saw 
following  a  broad  and  generous  course.  The  school  was 
planned  by  Mr.  (now  Sir)  Philip  Magnus,  and  in  a  small  way 
it  was  very  much  like  our  manual  training  school.  At  Sheffield 
there  was  a  similar  but  less  developed  school  under  Prof. 
Ripper.  Other  schools,  like  the  Bradford  Academy  and  the 
Manchester  Technical  School,  were  more  nearly  like  trade 
schools.  In  these  technical  schools  no  uniform  general  course 
of  study  and  practice  was  followed,  but  each  student  had  special 
instruction  in  special  arts  with  a  definite  view  to  a  special  occu- 
pation. For  instance,  one  student  would  study  bleaching  and 
dyeing,  another  spinning,  another  weaving,  and  so  on. 

Many  students  took  no  constructive  drawing,  and  in  most 
cases  the  evening  departments  were  the  main  features.  As  a 

1  I  can  not  speak  too  highly  of  the  reports  of  the  British  Royal  Commission  on 
Technical  Education.  Their  descriptions  are  remarkably  full,  and  good  judg- 
ment is  shown  in  giving  the  details  of  all  peculiar  features. 


328  EUROPEAN   SCHOOLS.  [chap,  XIV, 

rule,  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  town  determined  the 
character  of  the  technical  instruction.  During  the  year  1885, 
the  Manchester  Technical  School  was  changed  to  the  Man- 
chester Manual  Training  School,  but  with  what  success  I  have 
not  learned. 

In  Scotland,  in  the  city  of  Glasgow,  I  visited  a  school  on 
precisely  the  plan  of  a  manual  training  school,  called  Allan 
Glen's  Institution.  To  be  sure,  the  school  was  small,  and  its 
outfit  very  inadequate,  so  that  the  shop  practice  was  greatly 
restricted ;  but  the  principles  on  which  the  school  was  conducted 
were  most  admirable.  Head  Master  Dixon's  views  are  well 
expressed  by  these  few  words :  "  There  never  has  been  the  least 
idea  of  attempting  to  teach  the  pupils  a  trade.  The  whole 
object  has  been  to  prepare  lads  to  learn  very  efficiently "  such 
occupations  as  they  might  subsequently  choose  to  adopt. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  mechanical  laboratories 
of  King's  College  and  University  College,  arid  of  the  Central 
School  of  the  City,  and  Guilds  of  London  Institution  are  for  the 
instruction  of  students  of  much  higher  grade.  These  are  all 
high-grade  polytechnic  schools,  for  which  the  manual  training 
school  is  strictly  preparatory.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  graduate  of  a  manual  training  school  enters  a  polytechnic 
school  as  freshman. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  the  remarkable  workshops  of 
Prof.  Stuart  in  the  University  of  Cambridge.  Prof.  Stuart  is  a 
firm  believer  in  the  good  mental  and  moral  influence  of  intelli- 
gent manual  labor  and  thorough  business  methods.  He  has, 
therefore,  organized  in  the  very  heart  of  Cambridge,  and  as  a 
part  of  the  laboratory  system  of  the  great  University,  a  series 
of  shops  in  which  the  students  are  instructed  in  the  execution 
of  commercial  work  in  wood  and  iron.  Almost  from  the  start, 
the  young  workmen  are  put  upon  job-work  which  is  secured 
from  the  city.  He  has  a  wood-working  shop  for  the  making  of 
patterns ;  a  molding  and  casting  room,  containing  a  small  cupola 
for  melting  iron ;  a  machine-shop  for  machine-work  and  fitting; 
and  one  forge.  A  rigid  system  of  accounts  is  kept,  and  prices 
are  based  on  the  time  spent.  Prof.  Stuart  started  the  shop 
twelve  years  ago,  at  his  own  expense.  He  gives  his  own  time 


Chap,  XIV.]  A    CAMBRIDGE    WORKSHOP.  329 

(beyond  certain  lectures  he  is  required  to  give  as  University 
professor),  but  I  believe  that  one  or  two  shop  assistants  are 
paid  by  the  University.  All  the  other  running  expenses  are 
met  by  the  income  of  the  shop,  according  to  Prof.  Stuart. 

Tho  not  approving  the  policy  of  Prof.  Stuart's  establish- 
ment, I  have  no  doubt  he  is  doing  a  good  work  among  the 
students.  The  existence  and  evident  popularity  of  the  depart- 
ment is  a  most  interesting  phase  in  the  development  of  the  New 
Cambridge  out  of  the  Old.  He  had  eighty  students  when  I  was 
there,  of  whom  sixty  were  college  men.  I  fear  that  were  Prof. 
Stuart  an  obscure  man,  instead  of  a  distinguished  member  of 
Parliament,  the  shops,  as  now  managed,  would  be  less  successful. 

In  France,  manual  instruction  is  firmly  established.  Special 
schools  have  existed  for  many  years  for  the  teaching  of  trades 
and  the  training  of  apprentices ;  and,  at  present,  tool-instruction 
is  given  to  pupils  of  ten  years  and  upwards,  in  all  the  free 
public  schools  of  Paris.  I  visited  the  apprenticeship  school  on 
the  Boulevard  de  la  Villette,  already  described  in  Chap.  XI.,  and 
found  it  in  full  and  successful  operation.  Its  object  is  to  teach 
definite  trades :  joinery,  pattern-making,  blacksmithing,  fitting, 
and  the  trades  of  the  machinist,  the  locksmith,  and  the  electri- 
cian. After  a  general  survey  of  the  whole  field,  trying  his  hand 
for  a  week  or  two  at  each  one,  the  boy  selects  one,  and  hence- 
forth devotes  himself  entirely  to  it.  Some  drawing,  mathemati- 
cal, and  science  work  goes  along  with  it ;  but  it  is  small  compared 
with  ours,  while  the  shop-training  is  very  thorough.  Not  only 
is  every  boy  expected  to  follow  the  trade  he  learns,  but  in  prac- 
tice he  does  follow  it.  Only  boys  who  are  to  earn  their  living 
are  found  there.  The  idea  of  taking  shop-training  as  a  part 
of  general  culture  never  enters  one's  head.  Probably  should  a 
young  man  apply  for  such  a  purpose,  he  would  be  rejected,  on 
the  ground  that  he  would  deprive  a  poor  boy  of  the  opportunity 
to  learn  a  trade ;  for  the  capacity  of  the  school  is  limited.  In 
all  the  shops  of  the  school,  after  a  short  series  of  general  abstract 
exercises,  the  boys  enter  at  once  upon  commercial  work. 

The  school  which  has  exerted  the  greatest  influence  upon 
public  education  in  Paris  is  the  city  free  school  on  Rue  Tourne- 
fort.  This  has  been  established  many  years,  and  has  shown 


330  EUROPEAN   SCHOOLS.  [Chap.  XIV. 

how  much  can  be  accomplished  with  pupils  from  ten  to  sixteen 
years  of  age.  I  visited  it  in  May,  1885.  I  was  surprised  at  its 
slim  equipment.  In  its  wood-working  shop  it  had  eight  small 
benches  with  four  vises  on  each,  so  that  thirty-two  boys  could 
work  at  once.  In  its  metal  department  there  were  ten  vises, 
one  forge,  and  four  or  five  small  lathes.  In  the  modeling  and 
carving  room  there  were  twenty  boys  working  at  the  edge  of  a 
long  bench,  and  ten  at  frames  of  a  very  simple  character,  modeling 
figures  in  relief,  using  either  wood,  plaster,  or  clay.  The  school 
is  well  conducted,  and  its  aim  is  as  broad  and  high  as  possible. 
The  wholesome  effect  of  its  course  of  training  has  led  to  the  intro- 
duction of  tool-work  into  the  elementary  grades  of  all  the  schools. 

I  visited  one  of  the  large  primary  boys'  schools  of  Paris,  and 
saw  the  pupils  at  their  various  exercises.  It  was  almost  amus- 
ing to  see  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  little  fellows  went  to 
their  shop-work.  Their  benches  were  small  and  crude,  and  very 
close  together ;  but  they  served  their  purpose  well.  The  wood 
the  lads  were  using  was  very  hard,  and  I  wished  they  had  a 
supply  of  American  white  pine  for  their  first  exercises.  The 
teachers  were  greatly  pleased  with  the  moral  and  physical 
effects  of  the  training. 

The  theory  of  public  schools  in  France  is  based  upon  the 
absolute  necessity  of  the  State's  providing  an  education  which 
shall  make  the  poorest  class  better  workmen  and  more  intelligent 
citizens. 

Mechanical  laboratories  for  the  polytechnic  schools  are  not 
to  be  found  in  France.  To  a  certain  extent  in  the  government 
schools,  students  make  up  the  deficiency  by  contact  with  actual 
work.  The  almost  unrivaled  chemical  laboratories  of  the  Cen- 
tral School  of  Engineering  in  Earis  are  in  striking  contrast  with 
the  scant  dynamic  laboratories  of  the  students  in  civil  and 
mechanical  engineering. 

The  splendid  Conservatory  of  Arts  and  Trades  is  unrivaled 
as  a  historical  museum,  but  it  has  no  working  laboratory. 

At  Chalons,  there  is  one  of  the  three  fine  government  schools 
for  the  education  of  skilled  foremen  and  superintendents.1 

1  The  other  two  are  at  Aix  and  Angers.  Two  more  have  been  recently  estab- 
lished (or  are  in  process  of  establishment),  at  Lille  and  at  Nevers. 


Chap.  XIV,]     MECHANICAL   ENGINEERING  AT  CHALONS.        331 

I  was  delighted  with  their  plant  and  method  of  instruction. 
For  the  first  time  I  saw  my  own  school  out-done  in  equipment 
for  shop-work.  The  young  men  were  much  older  than  ours ;  all 
were  fine,  strong,  manly  fellows,  and  there  was  great  dignity  and 
system  about  all  their  work.  The  discipline  was  very  strict ; 
and  not  a  word  was  spoken  in  the  shops,  except  by,  or  to,  an 
instructor,  unless  two  students  were  working  together  on  the 
same  job,  as  in  the  forging-shop.'  The  number  and  size  of 
the  tools  were  remarkable,  and  suggested  a  lavish  expenditure 
of  the  public  money.  The  students  work  six  and  three-fourths 
hours  daily  in  the  shops.  This  large  amount  of  shop  practice 
shows  the  bent  of  the  school.  The  annual  cost  is  from  two 
hundred  and  thirty  dollars  to  two  hundred  and  eighty  dollars 
per  student,  living  expenses  included.  One  half  these  students 
pay  nothing ;  the  other  half  pay  one  hundred  and  twenty  dol- 
lars each. 

In  Germany  the  polytechnic  schools  are  of  very  high  grade, 
tho  as  a  rule  they  are  deficient  in  mechanical  laboratories. 
In  chemistry,  and  sometimes  in  physics,  their  working  facilities 
are  fine ;  but  in  mechanics  they  have  collections  of  models  rather 
than  laboratories.  This  was  particularly  noticeable  at  Berlin, 
Hanover,  Carlsruhe,  and  Stuttgart  in  Germany,  and  in  Zurich 
and  Geneva  in  Switzerland.  At  Munich  I  found  the  best 
working  laboratory  of  engineering  I  saw,  excepting  those  in 
London.  But  manual  training  of  a  broad  character  is  not  to 
be  found  in  Germany  to  any  extent.  The  lower  technical 
schools  are  trade  schools.  There  are  immense  numbers  of 
these  scattered  all  over  Germany,  and  the  industries  taught 
vary  with  the  locality.  For  instance,  there  are  forty-four  trade 
schools  in  the  duchy  of  Baden  for  learning  clock-making,  wood- 
carving,  hat-making,  basket-plaiting,  etc.  By  means  of  these 
trade  schools,  the  children  of  workmen  are  trained  to  the 
occupation  of  their  parents  in  a  very  direct  manner.  With 
their  trade  instruction,  some  general  education  is  given ;  so  that 
the  result  is  better  workmen  and  better  citizens  as  the  years 
roll  on. 

At  Komatau  in  Bohemia  is  the  famous  royal  mechanical 
school  described  so  fully  by  Dr.  Runkle.  It  is  a  school  of 


332  EUROPEAN   SCHOOLS.  [Chap,  XIV. 

secondary  grade,  and  is  well  furnished  with  shops  and  drawing 
rooms ;  and  all  the  instruction  appeared  to  be  thorough.  It  can 
accommodate  fifty  boys,  and  appears  to  be  generally  full. 

I  had  heard  Prest.  C.  O.  Thompson  say  at  Madison  in 
1884,  that  the  Komatau  school  was  "  moribund ; "  and  I  was 
anxious  to  learn,  by  personal  inspection,  how  far  the  statement 
was  justified.  I  found  it  vigorous  and  prosperous.  Several 
more  schools  on  the  same  plan  were  being  established  by  the 
Austrian  government. 

My  criticism  on  the  school  was,  that  relatively  too  much  time 
was  spent  in  the  shop,  and  that  the  class  method  of  instruction 
in  tool-work  was  so  little  used.  The  divisions  were  small,  and 
the  pupils  were  not  kept  together. 

The  schools  of  Holland  and  Belgium  are  similar  to  those  in 
Germany.  A  boy's  career  in  life  is  generally  determined  be- 
fore he  is  thirteen  years  old.  If  he  is  to  be  an  artisan,  he  goes 
to  a  trade  school ;  if  he  is  to  be  a  merchant,  a  soldier,  a  govern- 
ment officer,  a  literary  man,  or  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  he  is 
taught  accordingly.  One  set  of  schools  was  regarded  as  special 
as  another.  At  no  one  school  were  all  classes  supposed  to 
attend. 

In  nearly  every  instance  throughout  Europe,  the  trade 
schools  received  government  aid.  The  paternal  character  of 
the  governments  which  deliberately  encouraged  such  industries 
as  were  peculiar  to  a  people  made  this  entirely  consistent. 
For  the  most  part,  corporations  or  firms  managed  the  schools, 
and  furnished  what  additional  means  they  needed. 

The  Russian  schools  of  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  I  did 
not  visit;  but  a  friend  of  mine1  spent  the  summer  of  1886  in 
Russia,  and  I  have  his  full  report  of  the  nature  and  scope  of 
their  technical  schools.  They  are  strictly  professional  in  char- 
acter, intended  to  produce  mechanical  engineers  for  the  gov- 
ernment service. 

Their  method  of  tool-instruction  is  most  admirable,  and,  to  a 
certain  extent,  is  worthy  of  the  widest  imitation.  Their  course 

1  William  Mather,  Esq.,  of  Manchester,  Eng.  His  report  of  the  schools  of 
Russia,  published  as  a  part  of  the  report  of  the  Royal  Commission,  is  the  fullest 
account  of  Russian  schools  which  has  yet  appeared. 


Chap.  XIV. J  THE  SLOJD   SCHOOLS   OF  SWEDEN.  333 

of  training  is  six  years,  and  naturally  shop-work  is  the  most 
important  feature.  During  the  first  three  years  the  students 
are  in  the  "instruction-shops."  Systematic  and  logical  exercises 
are  used,  and  the  method  of  class  instruction  by  laboratory 
lectures  is  followed.  This  preliminary  training  during  the  first 
three  years  is  broad  in  its  character  and  generous  in  its  scope. 
The  last  three  years  are  spent  in  construction-shops  on  heavy, 
commercial  work.  It  is  obvious  that  the  only  part  which  can 
belong  in  a  general  educational  institution  is  the  first  half. 

Just  at  the  stage  when  the  Russian  student  enters  the  con- 
struction-shop to  put  in  practice  the  principles  and  methods  he 
has  mastered,  the  American  student  leaves  the  educational 
institution  altogether,  and  betakes  himself  to  an  establishment 
for  special  training,  mechanical  or  otherwise.  Elsewhere  I  have 
been  happy  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness  to  the  Russians 
for  their  admirable  method. 

Of  the  Slb'jd  (sloid)  schools  of  Sweden,  I  know  only  by 
reports.  They  have  been  fully  written  up  by  Prof.  Ordway, 
and  more  recently  they  have  been  under  discussion  in  England. 
However  well  they  may  suit  the  wants  and  constitution  of 
Swedish  society,  I  am  sure  that  sloid  will  never  flourish  on 
American  soil. 

It  must  suffice  if  I  mention  three  chief  objections  to  the 
system :  — 

1.  The  manual  training  involved  is  limited  to  wood-work. 

2.  The  pupils  are  taught  and  shown  about  their  work  sepa- 
rately, individually ;  i.e.,  class-instruction'  is  not  given,  and  the 
several  pupils  in  the  laboratory  are  doing  very  different  things. 

3.  The  things  wrought  are  household  furniture,  or  imple- 
ments and  utensils  to  be  carried  home  and  used  there.     There 
appears  to  be  no  aim  beyond  making  thrifty  householders. 

In  spite  of  the  vast  amount  that  has  been  said  about  the 
manual  instruction  in  Europe,  and  in  spite  of  the  great  benefits 
the  trade  schools  have  brought  to  their  industries,  and  in  spite 
of  the  greatly  improved  grade  of  workmen  their  schools  have 
produced,  —  I  found  no  system  of  public  instruction  which 
would  bear  transportation  to  the  United  States  of  America. 


334  EUROPEAN  SCHOOLS.  [Chap,  XIV, 

Their  schools  have  many  excellent  features,  and  their  appropria- 
tions for  schools  are  most  ample ;  but  their  long  daily  sessions, 
their  long  terms,  and  the  conventional  nature  of  their  curricula 
unfit  them,  without  great  modifications,  for  use  here.  Their 
manual  training  is  generally  very  narrow,  and  has  for  its  object 
not  mental  and  moral  growth,  but  the  acquisition  of  practical 
skill  for  subsequent  definite  use. 

/  Unless  I  am  greatly  in  the  wrong,  our  American  idea  of 
manual  training  as  a  feature  of  general  education,  not  for  a 
trade  or  a  profession,  but  for  the  healthy  growth  and  vigor  of 
all  the  faculties,  for  general  robustness  of  life  and  character, 
is  far  in  advance  of  any  model  in  a  foreign  land.  I  am  not 
of  those  who  think  it  indicative  of  fine  breeding  to  decry 
American  institutions,  and  laud  extravagantly  those  of  distant 
countries  which  will  not  bear  transplanting. 

The  manifest  inferiority  of  schools  when  actually  visited,  and 
compared  with  their  world-wide  reputations,  is  almost  painful. 
The  only  school  of  a  manual  character  I  visited  in  Europe 
which  surpassed  my  expectations  was  the  French  government 
school  at  Chalons ;  with  all  others  I  was  disappointed. 


Chap,  XV,]  PLANS  FOR  BUILDINGS.  335 


CHAPTER   XV. 

PLANS,    SHOP    DISCIPLINE,    TEACHERS,    REPORTS,    ETC. 

AS  to  plans,  a  great  variety  could  be  given,  adapted  to 
various  conditions.  As  a  rule,  existing  buildings  have 
been  utilized  for  shops,  and  in  but  few  cases  have  complete 
buildings  been  erected.  The  shops  for  technical  schools  are 
generally  unsuited  to  a  manual  training  school.  They  are 
either  too  small  or  too  large,  and  they  lack  that  uniformity  of 
equipment  which  a  section  of  from  twenty  to  twenty-four  pupils 
requires. 

Even  in  the  case  of  the  erection  of  a  new  building,  local 
conditions  are  likely  to  influence  the  plan.  The  St.  Louis  and 
the  Chicago  manual  training  schools  were  organized  complete 
in  buildings  designed  and  built  for  the  purpose,  and  all  the 
appointments  for  a  boys'  school  were  included.  The  Scott 
Manual  Training  School  of  Toledo  comprises  only  shops,  labora- 
tories, and  drawing  rooms,  the  study  and  recitation  rooms  being 
furnished  by  the  city  high  school.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Cleve- 
land and  Denver  manual  training  schools.  Of  the  Tulane  High 
School  of  New  Orleans,  I  have  no  details.  In  a  great  majority 
of  cases  where  shops  have  been  attached  to  existing  schools, 
unused  rooms,  too  often  in  the  basement,  have  been  utilized. 
The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  make  suggestions  of  value, 
first,  when  a  complete  manual  training  school  is  to  be  provided 
for ;  and,  secondly,  when  only  the  shops  and  drawing  rooms  are 
to  be  added  to  an  existing  school. 

Altho  the  building  of  the  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School 
was  erected  partly  in  1879  and  partly  in  1882,  and  there  was 
little  to  guide  us  in  arranging  the  details,  the  plan  is  an  admir- 
able one  in  most  respects.  Some  of  its  deficiencies  I  shall 


336      PLANS,    SHOP   DISCIPLINE,    TEACHERS,    ETC.       [chap.  XV. 


point  out.  Fig.  135  gives  the  plan  of  the  third  story.  With 
the  exception  of  one  drawing  division  and  one  wood-working 
division,  all  the  work  of  the  youngest  class  is  done  on  this 

floor.  The  drawing  room  is  fur- 
nished with  twenty-four  stands,  and 
each  recitation  room  with  twenty- 
four  shelf-chairs. 

>S  is  the  wood-working  room,  with 
twenty -four  benches  and  twenty- 
four  lathes,  four  of  which  are  not 
shown.  The  scale  of  the  engrav- 
ing is  about  twenty  -  one  feet  to 
the  inch. 


FIRST-YEAR  SCHOOL  ROOM 
96  DESKS. 


WARD  \ROBE  •  RECITATION      ROOM 


FIG.  135.    ST.  Louis  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL.  —  PLAN  OF  THIRD  STORY. 

The  physical  shop  and  laboratory  are  full  of  apparatus  and 
tools  for  making  more  physical  apparatus.  These  two  rooms 
are  used  bv  the  several  divisions  of  the  second-year  class. 


Chap,  XV,]  FLOOR   PLANS.  —  SECOND  FLOOR. 


337 


Fig.  136  gives  the  plan  of  the  second  story.  The  middle 
class  may  have  four  divisions  of  twenty -two  each.  Their 
work  takes  them  to  all  the  floors. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  wood- 
working room  with  lathes  is  directly 
under  the  drawing  room  and  labo- 
ratory of  the  third  story.  This 
arrangement  I  criticise  on  the  next 
page. 

^  o  The   divisions  which   go   to   the 

forging-shop,  which  is  shown  in  the 
next  cut,  generally  pass  through 
the  corner  of  the  yard. 


SECOND-YEAR  SCHOOL  ROOM. 

O 
88  DESKS. 


FIG.  136.    ST.  Louis  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL.  — PLAN  OF  SECOND  STORY. 

The  walls  of  the  various  shops  are  generally  of  plain  brick- 
work, which  is  whitewashed  if  there  is  any  lack  of  light. 
Ceiling  under  the  joice  is  unnecessary  if  the  flooring  is  double. 


338      PLANS,   SHOP  DISCIPLINE,    TEACHERS,   ETC.       [chap,  XV, 


Fig.  137  gives  the  plan  of  the  first  story,  which  is  mainly  for 
the  use  of  the  highest  grade,  or  third-year  class.  With  the 

exception  of  the  drawing,  this  class 
does  all  its  work  on  this  floor. 

The  benches,  B  B,  are  shown 
in  the  engraving,  as  are  also  the 
dressing  lockers,  (7. 

The  lathes,  drills,  and  other 
machine  tools  stand  compactly 
arranged  across  the  room.  In  the 
forging  shop  there  are  twenty-two 
anvils  and  forges. 


THIRD-YEAR  SCHOOL  ROOM. 


FIG.  137.    ST.  Louis  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL.  — PLAN  OP  FIRST  STORY. 

The  basement  has,  on  the  one  side,  the  wash-rooms  and 
dressing-rooms  for  the  first-floor  shops,  the  engine,  and  the 
engineer's  repair-shop ;  on  the  other  side,  the  water-closets,  etc., 
a  play-room,  a  lunch-room,  and  the  warm-air  chamber.  In  a 


Chap,  XV.]  DEFECTS  IN   THE   ST.   LOUIS  PLANS.  339 

fireproof  room  under  the  side  steps  is  the  oil-room.  There  is 
no  basement  to  the  forging-shop.  The  boiler  is  set  in  a  separate 
building  as  a  part  of  the  university  battery.  As  a  rule,  I  would 
put  the  boiler  in  a  special  building  near  the  base  of  the  stack. 

There  are  three  respects  wherein  these  plans  could  be  im- 
proved, which  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  point  out. 

1.  The  forging-shop,  which  is  the  noisiest  shop  in  all,  is  rather 
too  near  the  schoolrooms.    In  warm  weather,  when  the  windows 
are  open,  the  noise  is  somewhat  troublesome.     I  should  prefer 
a  plan  which  turned  the  shop  wing  ninety  degrees  to  the  left, 
so  as  to  place  the  forging-shop  directly  beyond  the  machine- 
shop.     In  other  words,  I  would  put  the  school  and  drawing 
rooms  at  the  head  of  a  "f,  and  the  shops  in  the  long  central  part, 
with  the  forging-shops  at  the  extreme  end. 

2.  There  is  no  well  or  shaft  for  the  transmission  of  power  to 
the  several  floors  from  the  basement.     The  transmission  should 
be  from  floor  to  floor  by  belts  with  suitable  tighteners.     Each 
shop  should  be  furnished  with  a  clutch,  by  means  of  which  the 
teacher  in  charge  may  turn  on  his  shop,  or  turn  it  off,  at  pleas- 
ure, without  interfering  with  the  other  shops.     At  times  the 
teacher  needs  a  quiet  room  where  his  voice  may  be  easily  heard, 
as  he  gives  the  theory  of  a  machine,  explains  the  details  of  a 
process,  or   criticises  work  before  a  class.     In  the  transfer  of 
power,  gearing  is  too  noisy  for  a  school.     The  main  shafting 
and  pulleys  of  the  machine-shop  of  the  St.  Louis  school  can  not 
be  stopped  without  stopping  the  engine.     While  this  defect  is 
hard  to  remedy,  it  may  easily  be  avoided  in  a  new  plan. 

3.  On  the  third  floor,  I  would  interchange  the  wood-working 
shop  with  the  drawing  and  physics  rooms.     This  would  accom- 
plish two  things :  first,  it  would  place  the  drawing  room  and 
physical  laboratory  over  a  comparatively  quiet  room,  as  there  is 
no  noise  in  the  molding  room  ;  and,  secondly,  no  divisions  would 
pass  through  a  shop  where  the  boys  are  at  work. 

These  criticisms  may  appear  to  be  trifling  and  uncalled  for, 
but  they  have  force  enough  to  serve  others  whose  plans  are  yet 
to  be  drawn.  I  am  not  criticising  another :  I  alone  am  respon- 
sible, and  I  have  already  given  those  who  have  followed  us  the 
benefit  of  these  suggestions. 


340      PLANS,    SHOP  DISCIPLINE,    TEACHERS,   ETC.       [Chap.  XV. 

As  a  rule,  the  study  and  recitation  rooms  should  be  separated 
from  the  shops  by  two  walls  enclosing  halls,  stairways,  or  yard ; 
at  the  same  time  I  should  prefer  to  have  all  the  rooms  for  a  class 
on  the  same  floor,  or  as  nearly  so  as  possible,  and  but  a  few 
steps  away.  It  may  not  work  badly  to  have  a  division  cross  the 
yard,  but  I  advise  strongly  against  sending  a  division  out  of 
the  yard,  or  across  the  street.  I  do  not  favor  the  transfer  of  a 
division  of  students  from  one  principal  to  another,  and  back 
again.  No  principal  would  like  that  arrangement  in  the  case 
of  such  a  study  as  arithmetic  or  spelling,  and  shop-work  and 
drawing  should  be  treated  with  precisely  the  same  consider- 
ation. The  same  precautions  should  in  all  cases  be  taken  to 
prevent  irregularities  and  loss  of  time.  In  short,  manual  work 
should  be  treated  as  school  work,  and  watched,  and  guarded, 
and  sustained  as  such.  Until  such  treatment  is  possible,  it 
would  be  better  to  go  without  it.1 

In  cases  where  manual  work  is  added  to  an  existing  school, 
the  erection  of  a  new  building  is  generally  necessary ;  but  this 
should  be  so  planned  as  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  arrange- 
ment, and  let  the  principal  remain  principal  of  the  whole  insti- 
tution. I  take  great  pleasure  in  giving  the  details  of  a  plan  of 
such  an  addition  to  a  large  city  high  school,  which  I  regard 
as  in  every  way  most  admirable,  and  worthy  of  the  widest 
following.  I  refer  to  the 

HIGH   AND   MANUAL   TRAINING   SCHOOL   OF   TOLEDO,    OHIO. 

The  addition  is  known  as  the  Scott  Manual  Training  School, 
for  the  reason  that  the  additional  building  was  erected  and 
equipped,  and  its  running  expenses  provided  for,  by  an  institu- 
tion known  as  the  "  Toledo  University,"  originally  endowed 
by  Jesup  W.  and  Susan  Scott  in  1872.2 

1  "  The  workshop  should  not  be  put  into  the  cellar,  nor  supplied  with  bad  tools, 
as  tho  anything  or  anywhere  would  do  for  it;  but  it  should  be  dignified  by 
giving  it  as  good  a  room  as  is  chosen  for  any  other  subject  of  the  school  course, 
and  the  tools  and  appliances  should  be  as  complete  as  the  funds  of  the  school  will 
permit."  —  PROF.  RIPPER. 

2  The  endowment  was  subsequently  increased  by  the  sons  of   Mr.  Scott, 
William  H.,  Frank  J.,  and  Maurice  A.  Scott,  in  1874;  and  the  entire  trust  was 
conveyed  to  the  city  in  1884.    The  only  work  thus  far  undertaken  by  the  University 
has  been  the  establishment  of   the  Manual  Training  School.     The  Board  of 


Chap.  XV,]         TUE  PLANS   OF  THE   TOLEDO   SCHOOL.  341 

The  building  was  erected  in  1885,  and  formally  opened  in 
December  of  that  year.  Meanwhile,  considerable  manual  work 
had  been  done  in  the  rooms  of  the  high  school.  Fig.  3,  page  13, 
gives  a  cut  of  the  addition.  It  is  seen  to  consist  of  four  stories, 
including  the  well-lighted  rooms  on  the  ground  floor.  For  the 
sake  of  showing  the  arrangement  of  rooms,  including  wash  and 
tool  rooms,  the  ample  provision  for  light  in  every  shop,  the  com- 
parative isolation  of  the  forging-shop  from  rooms  likely  to  be 
disturbed  by  noise,  and  the  numerous  connections  with  the  old 
building,  I  give  the  floor  plans  in  full.  Power  is  communicated 
to  the  upper  floors  through  the  hall-way.  The  only  detail  that 
would  be  improved  by  change,  so  far  as  I  have  heard,  is  the 
shallowness  of  the  projection  which  includes  the  entrance.  Had 
this  projection  been  five  or  six  feet  more  than  it  is,  the  office, 
library,  and  upper  halls  would  have  been  greatly  improved  by 
their  gain  in  size. 

Fig.  138  gives  the  ground  floor  plan.  The  boiler-house  is 
under  ground  and  beyond  the  wall  on  the  right,  by  the  arrow 
which  shows  the  descending  steps. 

The  large  shops  are  each  forty  by  fifty-five  feet.  The  size  of 
the  other  rooms  may  be  determined  by  scale. 

In  the  plan  of  the  first  story  (Fig.  139)  the  wood- working 
shop  is  furnished  with  lathes  as  well  as  benches,  while  on  the 
next  floor  (Fig.  140)  only  benches  are  shown.  In  Fig.  141,  which 
gives  the  details  of  the  third  story,  the  broken  lines  indicate  the 
skylights,  which  supplement  the  short  windows  in  the  walls. 

The  great  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Toledo  school  is  its 
provision  forgiving  manual  training  to  girls.  Girls  in  divisions 
by  themselves  are  not  only  taught  all  the  drawing  that  the  boys 
have,  but  light  wood-work  (including  wood-carving),  cooking 
(as  an  illustration  of  applied  chemistry),  needlework,  cutting, 
and  fitting  (as  applications  of  mechanical  drawing). 

Directors,  as  now  organized,  consists  of  the  mayor,  six  members  nominated  by 
him,  and  six  nominated  by  the  Board  of  Education;  all  are  to  be  confirmed 
by  the  Common  Council  of  Toledo.  William  H.  Scott  is  the  president,  and 
A.  E.  Macomber,  secretary. 

This  union  of  forces  in  the  cause  of  education  exhibits  the  high  importance  of 
enlightened  liberality  and  public  spirit  in  the  managers  of  public  trusts,  and  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  commend  their  action  to  the  friends  of  education  in  all  communities. 


FLOOR-PLAN 


GIRLS 
PLAY   ROOM 


HALL 


•lllfK 


GIRLS 
PLAY  ROOM 


F.  Forges. 
A.  Anvils. 

G.  Grinding  Stone. 

S.  Rip  and  Crosscut  Saw. 
I     C.  Cupola. 


FIG.  138.    TOLEDO  HIGH  AND  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 
342 


GRAMMAR  SCHOOL 
ROOM 


B.  Work  Benches. 
L  Turning  Lathes. 
J.  Jig  Saw. 

G.  Grinding  Stone. 

C.  Tool  Cases. 


MACHINE 

• 

SHOP 


FIG.  139.    TOLEDO  HIGH  AND  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 


343 


344      PLANS,    SHOP   DISCIPLINE,    TEACHERS,   ETC.       [chap.  XV. 

The  cooking-room,  on  the  third  floor  in  Fig.  141,  is  thus 
described  in  the  last  catalog  of  the  school :  — 

"  This  is  forty  by  twenty-seven  feet,  with  one  large  Garland  range,  two 
gas  cooking-stoves,  and  five  double  tables  five  feet  long  by  five  feet  wide, 
each  table  accommodating  four  pupils.  Each  girl  has  her  own  table  space 
for  work,  and  there  is  a  small  gas-stove  for  every  two  pupils.  Each  table 
space  has  a  drawer  and  cupboard  below  it  for  all  essential  utensils,  and  each 
pupil  must  personally  go  through  every  process  taught.  At  the  other  end 
of  the  room  are  pantry  closets  for  the  teacher's  use,  and  a  commodious 
wash-room,  with  all  the  conveniences  for  girls,  including  individual  closets 
for  the  keeping  of  aprons,  clothes,  etc." 

In  another  respect  the  Toledo  school  has  led  the  way ;  viz., 
in  giving  to  boys  of  the  senior  grammar  grade  substantially  the 
shop-work  and  drawing  I  have  given  in  Chap.  II.  as  appro- 
priate for  our  first  year.  The  result  of  their  experience  thus 
far  appears  to  show  that  the  work  is  not  too  difficult  for  them, 
tho  it  was  found  necessary  to  give  less  time  in  the  shop.  I 
hope  the  experiment  will  be  continued  at  Toledo  and  elsewhere, 
and  always  under  judicious  supervision.  A  very  young  child 
may  be  made  to  go  through  certain  motions,  just  as  he  may  be 
taught  to  repeat  words  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  yet  com- 
pletely fail  to  make  any  rational  progress  thereby.  There  is,  of 
course,  a  manual  training  suited  in  quality  and  quantity  for  the 
pupils  of  each  of  the  lower  grades ;  the  important  thing  is  to 
find  it.  This  is  true  for  girls  as  well  as  for  boys.  I  give  in  an 
Appendix  the  course  of  study  for  girls  in  the  Toledo  school. 

The  cost  of  the  addition  to  the  Toledo  High  School,  "includ- 
ing the  underground  boiler  and  coal-rooms  placed  outside  the 
main  building,  sewer  connections,  grading,  walks,  steam-piping," 
etc.,  is  given  as  $22,951.44. 

SHOP   DISCIPLINE. 

I  know  that  many  teachers  will  at  first  be  greatly  in  doubt 
as  to  what  they  ought  to  ask,  and  what  they  may  reasonably 
expect,  of  pupils  during  shop  hours  in  the  matter  of  discipline. 
Of  course  the  standard  should  be  different  from  that  in  a  study 
or  recitation  room.  The  legitimate  noise  of  a  shop  is  not 
demoralizing,  and  the  teacher  ought  not  to  make  it  a  point  to 


Chap,  XV,]  SHOP  REGULATIONS.  345 

reduce  the  noise  to  a  minimum.  The  main  object  is  to  secure 
intellectual  and  manual  activity  on  the  subject  legitimately  in 
hand.  Close  attention  to  business  should  be  insisted  on.  All 
trifling  and  irrelevant  matters  should  be  excluded;  but  it  is  not 
at  all  necessary  to  forbid  a  boy  who  is  in  doubt  from  asking  a 
neighbor  what  to  do,  or  from  watching  for  a  moment  his  method 
of  procedure.  Such  assistance  is  very  stimulating,  and  may  be 
valuable  to  both  parties.  The  teacher,  who  is  supposed  to 
know  all  that  is  going  on  in  his  room,  is  the  proper  one  to  give 
aid ;  but  he  will  often  send  one  boy  to  another  for  the  purpose 
of  calling  attention  to  some  superior  work,  or  of  emphasizing  a 
point  by  requiring  one  boy  to  explain  it  to  another.  Good 
work  should  be  freely  passed  around  and  inspected. 

At  the  end  of  a  shop  exercise,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  allow  the 
utmost  freedom  of  communication.  This  may  last  two  or  three 
minutes.  No  boy  can  be  deeply  interested  in  his  work,  and  not 
have  a  burning,  almost  an  overmastering,  desire  to  talk  about 
it  to  his  fellows.  To  recognize  this  natural  and  healthy  appe- 
tite, and  thus  to  reasonably  control  it,  is  certainly  judicious. 
"When  a  boy  knows  that  he  is  soon  to  have  an  opportunity  to 
speak  his  mind  to  his  neighbor,  he  is  easily  persuaded  to  wait 
till  the  appointed  time  comes. 

A  small  gong  should  be  used  in  each  shop  for  signaling  a 
class :  when  to  break  ranks  and  go  to  work,  when  to  assemble 
at  the  teacher's  bench,  when  to  "  clean  up,"  when  to  file  out  of 
the  room,  etc.  Each  division  before  leaving  the  shop  should 
brush  off  the  benches,  machine  tools,  and  other  appliances  in 
use,  restore  all  tools  to  their  places,  and  put  all  in  order  for  the 
next  division.  This  takes  but  two  or  three  minutes,  and  it 
encourages  the  formation  of  a  habit  of  order.  The  floor  should 
be  cleaned  every  night  by  the  janitor. 

Forge  and  metal  work  is  impossible  without  soiled  hands  and 
faces;  and  the  students  should  be  encouraged  to  remove  all 
their  linen,  and  to  put  on  blouses  which  shall  thoroughly  pro- 
tect their  underwear.  A  good  wash  in  warm  water  with  plenty 
of  soap,  followed  by  the  use  of  a  clean,  dry  towel,  will  bring 
the  young  workmen  back  to  the  schoolroom  none  the  worse  for 
their  physical  contact  with  the  entities  of  the  shop. 


GRAMMAR  SCHOOL  ROOM 


B.  Work  Benches. 
G.  Grinding  Stone. 
S.  Sink. 

C.  Tool  Cases. 


FIG.  140.    TOLEDO  HIGH  AND  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 
34G 


LAN-THIRD  5TO 


I    RECITATION 
•-1          ROOM 


C.  Chest  of  Drawers. 

D  B.  Drawing  Board  Cases. 

T.  Work  Tables. 

G.  Gas  Stoves. 

S.  Cooking  Range. 

W.  Sink. 

0.  Cupboard. 


HIGH  SCHDDL 
ROOM. 


DRAWING  ROOM 


FIG.  141.    TOLEDO  HIGH   AND  MANUAL  TRAINING   SCHOOL. 

347 


348      PLANS,    SHOP   DISCIPLINE,    TEACHERS,    ETC.       [Chap,  XV. 

Of  course  it  is  readily  seen  that  each  student  must  have  his 
separate  locker,  in  which  his  valuables  (sleeve-buttons,  studs, 
watch,  etc.)  may  be  left  secure :  not  even  a  manual  training 
school  is  proof  against  a  thief  or  a  boy  with  a  mania  for 
pilfering. 

REPORTS. 

The  work  of  the  shop  should  be  reported  on  as  regularly  as 
that  in  any  branch  of  study ;  and  occasionally  written  exami- 
nations should  be  held  on  shop-work  for  the  purpose  of  testing 
the  pupils'  ability  to  use  correctly  names  and  technical  terms, 
and  to  describe  processes  logically.  As  in  literature,  science, 
and  art,  there  are  many  things  that  are  arbitrary  and  conven- 
tional, and  they  must  be  so  learned  as  to  be  correctly  used.  A 
half-quarterly  report  should  show  one's  degree  of  success  in 
each  branch  of  work  and  study,  and  a  boy  should  be  made  to 
feel  that  no  amount  of  success  in  one  direction  can  adequately 
atone  for  poor  work  in  another.  It  is  perfectly  natural  for  a 
boy  to  enjoy  some  kinds  of  work  more  than  other  kinds,  and  to 
succeed  in  one  line  more  readily  and  more  fully  than  in  another; 
but  all  may  easily  see  the  propriety  of  equal  fidelity  to  every 
demand  of  the  program.  The  freedom  of  choice  which  may  be 
entirely  proper  at  a  later  stage,  when  the  course  of  the  school 
is  finished,  is  altogether  out  of  place  in  a  school  one  of  whose 
chief  purposes  is  to  determine  by  a  broad  and  liberal  training 
what  one's  special  aptitudes  really  are.  Mere  fancy,  born  of 
accident  and  unequal  acquaintance,  must  not  be  regarded  as 
evidence  of  innate  capacity. 

TEACHERS. 

Good  teachers  are,  of  course,  the  most  valuable  part  of  a 
school's  outfit;  in  this  respect,  the  manual  training  school  is 
not  singular.  The  broader  his  training  and  culture,  the  better 
the  teacher,  in  the  shop  as  well  as  elsewhere.  Above  all,  the 
shop  teacher  should  know  fairly  well  the  whole  course  of  the 
school,  particularly  in  drawing  and  shop-work.  Every  teacher, 
should  be  able  to  take  the  point  of  view  of  those  whom  he 
teaches,  and  to  enter  into  hearty  sympathy  with  them,  —  to  see 
with  their  eyes,  to  judge  from  their  limited  experiences,  to 


Chap.  XV.]      QUALIFICATIONS   OF  A    SHOP    TEACHER.  349 

see  beforehand  just  the  mistakes  they  will  make,  and  the  diffi- 
culties they  must  meet  and  overcome.  Admit  no  narrowness 
to  the  shop.  While  recognizing  the  manliness  of  intelligent 
skill  in  every  field,  do  not  allow  any  unworthy  tricks  of  a  trade 
to  degrade  the  tone  of  the  school. 

At  present,  good  shop  teachers  are  scarce.  As  a  rule,  the 
reputed  fine  workmen  of  twenty  years'  experience,  who  learned 
their  trade  in  the  old-fashioned  way,  are  quite  unsuited  to  a 
manual  training  school.  They  find  it  impossible  to  adopt  our 
methods,  and  to  appreciate  our  aims.  Unless  a  boy  expects  to 
be  a  blacksmith,  they  can  not  understand  why  he  should  care 
to  learn  the  principles  of  forging ;  and  what  can  be  the  object 
of  tool-work  of  any  sort,  except  to  make  something  of  use  ? 

For  a  teacher,  give  me  first  a  graduate  of  a  manual  training 
school,  who  has  subsequently  taken  a  more  advanced  course  in 
polytechnic  or  college  work.  If  such  can  not  be  had,  give  me 
a  young  teacher  who  has  had  a  few  terms  at  a  manual  institute, 
and  who  has  caught  the  spirit  while  acquiring  the  art  of  manual 
training.  Do  not  underrate  the  position,  and  give  the  teacher 
less  credit  or  less  pay  than  those  in  the  other  departments.  It 
will  be  found  that  a  high  order  of  intelligence  and  skill  in  more 
than  one  field  is  needed  for  a  successful  shop  teacher.1 

The  most  essential  thing,  perhaps,  is  the  divine  faculty  of 
teaching.  The  ability  to  do  work  one's  self  is  no  evidence 
of  one's  ability  to  teach  it.  He  must  have  a  logical,  analytic 
mind ;  and  he  must  be  able  to  subdivide  the  steps  of  progress, 
so  as  to  bring  the  separate  intervals  of  advance  just  inside  the 
capacity  of  his  class.  The  demands  of  the  hour  must  be  seen 
to  be  reasonable,  requiring  vigorous  effort,  but  not  exceeding 
one's  strength.  The  teacher  is  not  to  carry  his  pupils :  he  is 
only  to  show  them  where  and  how  to  climb. 

But  this  is  the  old,  old  story.  If  teaching  is  a  science,  its 
methods  are  such  as  can  be  understood  with  thoughtful  study ; 
and  the  substance  of  what  I  would  say  is,  that  manual  educa- 

1  "  The  teacher  must  be  a  man  whose  heart  is  in  his  work,  and  one  who  will 
create  interest  and  enthusiasm  among  the  pupils;  accordingly  he  must  not  he  the 
least  intelligent,  or  the  worst  paid  member  of  the  staff.  Better  no  workshop  at 
all,  than  a  cold,  half-hearted  instructor."  —  PROF.  RIPPER. 


350      PLANS,    SHOP  DISCIPLINE,    TEACHERS,   ETC.       [ Chap.  XV. 

tion  and  manual  teachers  should  be  rated  and  secured  as  other 
educations  and  other  teachers  are  rated  and  secured. 

COST   OF  MATERIALS. 

Five  dollars  a  year  will  about  cover  the  cost  of  materials  and 
repair  per  pupil  in  a  wood-working  shop.  In  metal  work,  the 
expense  is  greater,  —  say,  eight  dollars  per  pupil,  —  particularly 
if  specimens  are  preserved  or  given  away.  Projects  are  expen- 
sive, unless  the  students  furnish  their  own  material.  In  the 
latter  case  it  may  be  well  to  have  it  understood  that  the  articles 
are  to  be  the  property  of  the  makers  as  soon  as  the  year's  exhibit 
is  over.  If  the  school  has  permanent  use  for  such  articles,  it 
should  pay  for  the  materials.  This  remark  should  refer  to  the 
drawing  as  well  as  to  the  shop-work. 

LUNCH. 

The  long  active  day  of  the  manual  training  school  should  not 
be  allowed  to  pass  without  a  substantial  lunch.  This  should  be 
something  more  than  an  apple  or  an  orange.  Bread  and  meat, 
soup,  milk,  coffee,  pastry,  and  fruit,  should  furnish  a  good  meal. 

Thirty  minutes  are  sufficient  for  a  lunch  at  the  building  ;  and, 
where  lunch  is  so  taken,  the  afternoon  session  may  close  at  half 
past  three,  instead  of  at  four  o'clock.1 

There  are  many  other  matters  of  greater  or  less  importance 
to  a  school  for  boys  who  are  just  upon  the  threshold  of  manhood, 
which  my  readers  must  take  for  granted.  Music,  debates, 
declamations,  etc.,  in  reason  are  as  appropriate  here  as  any- 
where, and  nothing  need  be  said  about  them  ;  but,  like  all  other 
good  things,  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  croAvd  out  other 
things  equally  and  perhaps  more  valuable.  As  I  have  said  else- 
where, there  are  many  avenues  to  culture ;  keep  them  all  open. 

i  This  is  the  case  at  the  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School.  A  caterer  sets 
a  table  in  the  lunch-room  at  one  o'clock.  Ten  cents  will  buy  a  fair  meal.  The 
greater  proportion  of  the  students  bring  at  least  a  part  of  their  lunch  from  home, 
which  they  eat  with  the  others  at  the  lunch-table. 


APPENDIX   I. 


ST.  LOUIS  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL  COURSE  OF  STUDY. 


FIRST-YEAR  CLASS. 

Arithmetic  completed.     Algebra,  to  equations. 

English  language,  its  structure  and  use.     Study  of  selected  pieces.     History 

of  the  United  States. 

Latin  grammar  and  reader  may  be  taken  in  place  of  English  and  history. 
Huxley's  Introduction  to  Science.     Physical  geography.     Botany. 
Drawing,  mechanical  and  free-hand.     Penmanship. 
Carpentry  and  joinery.      Wood-carving.      Wood-turning. 

SECOND-YEAR  CLASS. 

Algebra,  through  quadratics.     Geometry  begun. 

Natural  philosophy.  Experimental  work  in  the  physical  laboratory.  Prin- 
ciples of  mechanics. 

English  composition  and  literature.     Rhetoric.     English  history. 

Latin  (Csesar)  may  be  taken  in  place  of  rhetoric  and  history. 

Drawing.  —  Line-shading  and  tinting,  machines.  Development  of  surfaces, 
free-hand  detail  drawing.  Isometric  projections. 

Forging. — Drawing,  upsetting,  bending,  punching,  welding,  tempering; 
pattern-making,  molding,  soldering. 

THIRD-YEAR  CLASS. 

Geometry  continued.     Plane  trigonometry,  mensuration. 

English  composition  and  literature.     History.     Elementary  political  economy. 

French  or  German  may  be  taken  in  place  of  English  and  history,  or  in  place 

of  the  science  study. 
Physiology.     Elements  of  chemistry.    Book-keeping.    Students  who  have  taken 

Latin,  and  who  intend  to  enter  the  Polytechnic  School  after  completing 

the  course  in  this  School,  will  take   history  in   place   of   physiology, 

chemistry,  and  book-keeping. 
Drawing.  —  Brush-shading,    shadows,    geometrical    problems,    architecture, 

machines. 
Work    in    the    machine-shop.  —  Bench-work    and    fitting,   turning,   drilling, 

planing,  screw-cutting,  etc.     Study  of  the  steam-engine. 

351 


352 


APPENDICES. 


APPENDIX    II. 


THE  TOLEDO  MANUAL  TRAINING  SCHOOL. 


From  the  last  catalog  I  cut  the  following:  — 
COURSE   OF   COMBINED    STUDY  AND   TRAINING    FOR   GIRLS. 


(1.) 
(2.) 
(3.) 

(4.) 
(5.) 


(1.) 
(2.) 
(3.) 
(4.) 

(5.) 


(1.) 
(2.) 
(3.) 
(4.) 


(1.) 
(2.) 

(3.) 
(4.) 
(5.) 


DOMESTIC    ECONOMY    DEPARTMENT. 
FIRST  YEAR. 

Mathematics.  — Arithmetic. 

Science.  —  Physical  geography. 

Language.  —  Grammar,  spelling,  vriting,  English  composi- 
tion. 

Drawing.  —  Free  hand  and  mechanical,  lettering. 

Domestic  Economy.  —  Light  carpentry,  wood-carving,  care 
and  use  of  tools. 

SECOND   YEAR. 

Mathematics.  —  Algebra,  arithmetic. 

Science.  —  Physiology  and  botany. 

Language.  —  Grammar,  rhetoric,  writing. 

Drawing.  —  Free-hand  and  mechanical.  Designs  for  wood- 
carving. 

Domestic  Economy.  —  Clay-modeling,  wood-turning  ;  intro- 
duction to  course  in  cooking,  or  garment  cutting  and 
making. 

THIRD    YEAR. 

Mathematics.  —  Geometry,  arithmetic  reviewed. 

Science.  —  Physics. 

Language.  —  English  composition,  history. 

Drawing.  —  Free-hand   and   architectural,    designing   from 

plant  and  leaf  forms. 
Domestic  Economy.  —  Instruction  in  preparing  and  cooking 

food,  purchasing  household  supplies,  care  of  the  sick, 

etc. 

FOURTH   YEAR. 

Mathematics.  — Plane  trigonometry,  mechanics. 

Science.  —  Chemistry,  book-keeping,  ethics  ;  rights  and 
duties,  laws  of  right  conduct. 

Language.  —  Political  economy,  English  literature  and  com- 
position. 

Drawing.  —  Machine  and  architectural  details,  decorative 
designing. 

Domestic  Economy.  —  Cutting,  making,  and  fitting  of  gar- 
ments, household  decorations,  typewriting,  etc. 


Senior 

Grammar 

School. 

Manual 

Training 

School. 

Junior 

High 

School. 

Manual 

Training 

School. 


Middle 

High 

School. 

Manual 

Training 

School. 


Senior 

High 

School. 


Manual 

Training 

School. 


APPENDICES.  353 

"  The  above  course  in  Domestic  Economy  is  arranged  with  special  refer- 
ence to  giving  young  women  such  a  liberal  and  practical  education  as  will 
inspire  them  with  a  belief  in  the  dignity  and  nobleness  of  an  earnest  woman- 
hood, and  incite  them  to  a  faithful  performance  of  the  every-day  duties  of 
life ;  it  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  a  pleasant  home  is  an  essential 
element  of  broad  culture,  and  one  of  the  surest  safeguards  of  morality  and 
virtue. 

"  The  design  of  this  course  is  to  furnish  thorough  instructions  in  applied 
housekeeping,  and  the  sciences  relating  thereto;  and  students  will  receive 
practical  drill  in  all  branches  of  housework,  in  the  purchase  and  care  of 
family  supplies,  and  in  general  household  management,  but  will  not  be 
expected  to  perform  more  labor  than  is  actually  necessary  for  the  desired 
instruction. 

"  In  cookery,  practical  instructions  will  be  given  in  the  means  employed 

in  BOILING,  BROILING,  BAKING,  FRYING,  and  MIXING,  as  follows  :  — 

"  BOILING.  —  Practical  illustrations  of  boiling  and  steaming,  and  treat- 
ment of  vegetables,  meats,  fish,  and  cereals,  soup-making,  etc. 

"  BROILING.  —  Lessons  and  practice  in  :  meat,  chicken,  fish,  oysters,  etc. 

"  BREAD-MAKING.  —  Chemical  and  mechanical  action  of  materials  used. 
Manipulations  in  bread-making  in  its  various  departments.  Yeasts,  and 
their  substitutes. 

"BAKING. — Heat  in  its  action  on  different  materials  in  the  process  of 
baking.  Practical  experiments  in  baking  bread,  pastry,  puddings,  cake, 
meats,  fish,  etc. 

"  FRYING.  —  Chemical  and  mechanical  principles  involved  and  illustrated 
in  the  frying  of  vegetables,  meats,  fish,  oysters,  etc. 

"MIXING.  —  The  art  of  making  combinations,  as  in  soups,  salads,  pud- 
dings, pies,  cakes,  sauces,  dressings,  flavorings,  condiments,  etc. 

"  MARKETING  AND  ECONOMY,  ETC.  —  The  selection  and  purchase  of 
household  supplies.  General  instructions  in  systematizing  and  economizing 
household  work  and  expenses.  The  anatomy  of  animals  used  as  food,  and 
how  to  choose  and  use  the  several  parts.  Lessons  on  the  qualities  of  water 
and  steam ;  the  construction  of  stoves  and  ranges ;  the  properties  of  different 
fuels. 

"  THE  TEXTILE  FABRIC  WORK  will  cover  instructions  in  garment  cutting 
and  making;  the  economical  and  tasteful  use  of  materials ;  millinery,  etc." 


354 


APPENDICES. 


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APPENDICES.  355 


APPENDIX   IV. 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL. 


[From  the  address  of  Gen.  Francis  A.  Walker,  president  of  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology,  at  the  Chicago  meeting  of  the  National  Educational 
Association  in  July,  1887.J 

WHATEVER  other  arts  may,  in  the  development  of  this  system,  come  to 
be  associated  with  carpentry  and  wood-turning  in  the  grammar  schools,  it 
appears  to  me,  that,  at  the  very  beginning,  we  may  demand  a  complete  course 
of  both  wood  and  metal  working  for  that  smaller  number  of  advanced  pupils 
who  go  forward  into  the  high  school.  If  it  is  for  the  interest  of  the  State 
that  these  young  persons  shall,  at  the  public  expense,  be  further  educated 
and  cultivated  on  one  side  of  their  minds,  it  is  not  equally,  but  doubly, 
desirable  that  the  education  and  cultivation  of  their  other  powers  and  facul- 
ties should  be  kept  up  in  the  high  school.  It  is  little  less  than  a  shame  that 
we  should  graduate  from  these  schools  pupils  who  are  highly  accomplished 
in  language,  composition,  and  declamation,  but  are  less  keen  in  perception, 
less  careful  in  observation,  weaker  in  practical  judgment,  with  less  of  visual 
accuracy,  less  of  manual  dexterity,  less  of  the  executive  faculty,  —  the  power, 
that  is,  of  doing  things  instead  of  merely  thinking  about  them,  talking  about 
them,  and  writing  about  them,  —  than  the  children  of  the  ordinary  ungraded 
district  school. 

Whatever  views  one  may  hold  of  the  mutual  relations  of  the  child  and 
the  State  in  the  grammar  school,  it  can  be  gainsaid  by  no  one,  that,  if  the 
community  is  to  be  called  upon  to  carry  the  more  favored  children  forward 
through  long  and  expensive  courses  of  advanced  education  and  training, 
those  who,  on  behalf  of  the  community,  direct  the  schools  of  this  class,  have 
the  absolute  right  to  impose  whatever  terms  and  conditions,  to  exact  and  to 
withhold  whatever  the  public  interest  may  require.  Cherishing  the  views 
I  do  as  to  what  constitutes  a  complete  education,  I  would  allow  no  pupil  to 
graduate  from  a  high  school  who  was  not  as  proficient  and  exact  in  mechan- 
ical as  in  grammatical  exercises.  I  would  not  make  myself  responsible  for 
adding  to  the  number  of  youth  who  have  been  trained  in  description,  with- 
out having  been  taught  to  observe  the  things  they  should  describe  ;  who  have 


356  APPENDICES. 

spent  years  in  the  art  of  rhetorical  elaboration  and  ornamentation,  without 
acquiring  any  adequate  body  and  substance  upon  which  to  exercise  those 
arts ;  who  are  clever  in  dialectics  and  declamation,  but  purblind  in  percep- 
tion, and  feeble  in  execution  ;  great  at  second-hand  knowledge,  but  confused 
and  diffident  when  thrown  upon  their  own  resources ;  skillful  with  the  pen, 
but  using  any  other  tool  awkwardly  and  ignorantly. 

The  mischief  we  can  possibly  do,  through  a  one-sided  education,  to  those 
who  stop  short  with  the  grammar  school,  is  fortunately  limited.  These 
children,  escaping  from  tuition  before  they  have  got  their  growth,  and  going 
at  once  to  work,  have  an  opportunity  to  cure  in  part  the  faults,  and  supply  in 
part  the  deficiencies,  of  their  education.  That  work,  of  course,  does  them 
far  less  good,  and  they  do  it  far  less  well,  than  if  the  foundation  had  been 
laid  in  early  youth,  under  proper  guidance  and  instruction.  Yet,  at  least, 
they  are  saved  from  growing  up,  and  growing  out,  all  on  one  side,  like  the 
unhappy  youth  who  are  destined  to  go  on,  for  three  or  seven  years  more, 
rehearsing  the  opinions  of  others  ;  memorizing  facts  ascertained  by  others ; 
practicing  a  simulated  passion  in  declamation  and  an  artificial  taste  in  com- 
position, making  much  of  grammatical  niceties,  painfully  polishing  periods 
without  much  regard  to  the  thoughts  these  should  enclose,  going  over  and 
over  a  weary  round  of  second-hand  information  and  second-hand  ideas, 
and  acquiring  a  few  purely  conventional  accomplishments. 

We  hear  much  of  the  vulgar  contempt  of  so-called  self-made  men  towards 
scholars  ;  of  their  distrust,  in  practical  matters,  of  school-made  and  book- 
read  men.  Doubtless  some  part  of  this  feeling  is  of  vulgar  origin,  due  to 
jealous  envy  or  ignorance ;  but  a  far  larger  part  I  believe  to  be  perfectly  just, 
arising  from  a  correct  apprehension  of  the  natural  effects  of  long-continued 
study  and  exercise  within  the  traditional  lines  of  high-school  and  college 
instruction,  producing  a  disposition  to  hesitate,  to  procrastinate,  to  multiply 
distinctions,  to  refine  in  preparation,  to  stand  shivering  on  the  verge  of  action. 
Doubtless  many  school  and  college-bred  men,  when  thrown  into  action,  are 
found  to  have  enough  of  robust  manhood  to  overcome  the  ill  effects  of  their 
early  training,  especially  if  in  school  or  college  they  were  not  very  good 
scholars ;  but  would  it  not  be  better  from  the  first  to  associate  with  the 
dialectical,  grammatical,  and  rhetorical  exercises  of  our  schools,  and  with 
the  perhaps  necessary  acquisition  of  much  mere  gazetteer,  cyclopaedic,  and 
dictionary  information,  studies  and  exercises  which  shall  not  only  prevent 
the  formation  of  distinctly  bad  habits  of  mind  and  will,  but  shall  positively 
develop  those  powers  and  faculties  which  the  very  first  access  to  the  duties  of 
professional  and  business  life  shows  to  be  the  most  useful  of  our  endowments? 

For  one,  I  believe  that  the  introduction  of  the  new  studies  and  exercises 
which  we  are  advocating  will  not  prove  a  mere  addition  to  the  work  of  the 
school  or  college.  I  believe  it  will  also  profoundly  modify  the  instruction 
given  within  traditional  lines.  Boys  and  young  men  who  have  learned  to 
observe  for  themselves,  to  acquire  knowledge  at  first  hand,  to  give  effect 
to  their  purposes,  and  a  form  to  their  ideas ;  who  have  been  accustomed  to 


APPENDICES.  357 

impose  their  will  upon  matter,  and  to  make  it  take  shape  to  suit  their  intel- 
lectual conceptions  ;  who  know  how  to  project,  to  plan,  to  execute,  — will  have 
little  patience  with  much  that  makes  up  the  traditional  curriculum.  They 
will  demand  to  be  brought  face  to  face  with  facts.  They  will  insist  upon 
going  to  the  bottom  of  any  matter  they  have  to  deal  with.  That  genuine 
intellectual  honesty  which  is  the  first-fruit  of  the  objective  study  of  concrete 
things  will  make  them  scorn  to  defend,  in  dialectical  and  rhetorical  practice, 
theses  which  they  do  not  thoroughly  believe.  They  will  grudge  every  hour 
spent  in  memorizing  matter  for  which  they  can  at  any  time  resort  to  the 
gazetteer  or  cyclopaedia.  It  will  be  hard  to  impose  on  such  students  with 
sounding  names,  deceive  them  with  sophistries,  or  bear  them  down  by 
authority.  They  will  care  much  for  principles,  little  for  the  manner  in  which 
these  may  be  dressed  up  for  effect,  or  tricked  out  for  public  admiration. 


358  APPENDICES. 


APPENDIX  V. 


MANUAL  TRAINING  IN  SCHOOL  EDUCATION. 

BY  SIR  PHILIP  MAGNUS 


BY  manual  training  one  commonly  means  exercises  in  the  use  of  the 
tools  employed  in  working  wood  and  iron. 

It  can  not  be  too  often  repeated  that  the  object  of  workshop  practice,  as 
a  part  of  general  education,  is  not  to  teach  a  boy  a  trade,  but  to  develop  his 
faculties,  and  to  give  him  manual  skill ;  that,  although  the  carpenter's  bench 
and  the  turner's  lathe  are  employed  as  instruments  of  such  training,  the 
object  of  the  instruction  is  not  to  create  carpenters  or  joiners,  but  to  famil- 
iarize the  pupil  with  the  properties  of  such  common  substances  as  wood  and 
iron,  to  teach  the  hand  and  eye  to  work  in  unison,  to  accustom  the  pupil  to 
exact  measurements,  and  to  enable  him  by  the  use  of  tools  to  produce  actual 
things  from  drawings  that  represent  them.  .  .  .  To  assume  that  the  best 
education  can  be  given  through  the  medium  of  books  only,  and  can  not  be 
equally  obtained  from  the  study  of  things,  is  a  survival  of  the  medievalism 
against  which  nearly  all  modern  authorities  protest. 

But  there  is  another  and  more  deeply  rooted  error  in  this  argument. 
People  often  talk  and  write  as  if  school-time  should  be  utilized  for  teaching 
those  things  which  a  child  is  not  likely  to  care  to  learn  in  after-life,  whereas 
the  real  aim  of  school  education  should  be  to  prepare,  as  far  as  possible, 
for  the  whole  work  of  life.  .  ,  .  The  endeavor  of  all  educators  should  be, 
to  establish  such  a  relation  between  school  instruction  and  the  occupations  of 
life  as  to  prevent  any  break  of  continuity  in  passing  from  one  to  the  other. 
The  methods  by  which  we  gain  information  and  experience  in  the  busy 
world  should  be  identical  with  those  adopted  in  schools. 

It  is  because  the  opposite  theory  has  so  long  prevailed,  that  our  school- 
training  has  proved  so  inadequate  a  preparation  for  the  real  work  of  life. 

The  demand  for  technical  instruction,  both  in  our  elementary  and  in  our 
secondary  schools,  is  a  protest  against  the  contrast  which  has  so  long  existed 
between  the  subjects  and  methods  of  school-teaching  and  the  practical  work 
of  e very-day  life. 


APPENDICES.  359 

We  are  always  justly  complaining  that  in  this  country  children  leave 
school  at  too  young  an  age,  before  they  can  have  had  time  to  properly  assimi- 
late the  knowledge  they  have  acquired,  with  the  result  that  they  soon  forget 
a  great  part  of  the  little  they  have  learned.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  or  sixteen 
they  begin  to  feel  the  want  of  technical  instruction.  There  can  be  little 
doubt,  if  elementary  education  were  made  more  practical,  that  parents  would 
be  more  willing,  even  at  some  sacrifice,  to  let  their  children  benefit  by  it. 
They  are  often  led  to  take  their  children  away  from  school,  because  they  do 
not  see  much  use  in  the  "schooling."  Of  course,  the  desire  to  secure  the 
child's  early  earnings  operates  in  very  many  cases ;  but  I  am  convinced  that 
it  would  be  easier  to  persuade  parents  to  forego  these  earnings,  if  the  school- 
teaching  had  more  direct  reference  to  the  work  in  which  the  children  are 
likely  to  be  subsequently  occupied. 

A  workshop  has  recently  been  fitted  in  the  school  attached  to  St.  Jude's 
Church,  Whitechapel.  Arrangements  have  been  made  for  giving  instruction 
in  carpentry  and  turnery  to  boys,  and  in  modeling  and  wood-carving  to  girls 
of  the  upper  standards,  and  the  results  of  the  lessons  have  fully  justified  the 
most  sanguine  expectations  of  the  advocates  of  this  kind  of  instruction. 
Those  who  have  visited  these  schools  have  been  struck  with  the  cheerful 
interest  shown  by  the  children  in  their  work,  and  by  the  effect  of  the  teach- 
ing in  quickening  their  perceptive  faculties  and  in  stimulating  their  intelli- 
gence. The  contrast  between  the  listless  and  often  inattentive  attitude  of 
children  occupied  with  some  ordinary  class-lesson,  and  the  eager  eyes  and 
nimble  fingers  of  the  same  children  at  the  carpenter's  or  modeling  bench,  is 
most  instructive ;  and  no  one  who  has  seen  it  can  have  any  doubt  of  the  edu- 
cational value  of  this  kind  of  training.  These  results,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, have  been  attained  by  teachers  most  of  whom  have  themselves  been 
trying  experiments,  and  have  been  working  by  the  light  of  nature,  without 
any  well-considered  methods.  Under  properly  trained  instructors  the  results 
would  doubtless  have  been  far  more  satisfactory. 

There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  stimulating  effect  of  workshop 
instruction  on  the  intelligence  of  children  will  be  such,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  loss  of  the  time  spent  in  the  shop,  their  progress  in  their  ordinary  studies 
will  be  in  no  way  retarded. 

Nearly  all  educationists  have  pointed  out  the  many  advantages  of 
enabling  children  at  an  early  age  to  realize  the  connection  between  knowing 
and  doing.  Comenius  has  well  said,  "  Let  those  things  that  have  to  be  done 
be  learned  by  doing  them."  Rousseau  has  pithily  expressed  a  similar  idea 
in  saying,  "  Souvenez-vous  qu'en  toute  chose  vos  Ie9ons  doivent  etre  plus  en 
actions  qu'en  discours ;  car  les  enfants  oublient  aisement  ce  qu'ils  ont  dit  et 
ce  qu'on  leur  a  dit,  mais  non  pas  ce  qu'ils  ont  fait  et  ce  qu'on  leur  a  fait " 
(Remember  that  in  every  thing  your  lessons  ought  to  be  more  in  actions 


360  APPENDICES. 

than  in  speech ;  for  children  easily  forget  what  they  have  said  and  what  has 
been  said  to  them,  but  not  what  they  have  done  and  what  has  been  done  to 
them). 

In  what  I  have  said,  I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  workshop  instruction 
may  be  made  a  part  of  a  liberal  education ;  that,  as  an  educational  discipline, 
it  serves  to  train  the  faculties  of  observation,  to  exercise  the  hand  and  eye 
in  the  estimation  of  form  and  size,  and  the  physical  properties  of  common 
things ;  that  the  skill  acquired  is  useful  in  every  occupation  of  life,  and  is 
especially  serviceable  to  those  who  are  likely  to  become  artisans,  by  inducing 
taste  and  aptitude  for  manual  work,  by  tending  to  shorten  the  period  of 
apprenticeship,  by  enabling  the  learner  to  apply  to  the  practice  of  his  trade 
the  correct  methods  of  inquiry  which  he  has  learned  at  school,  and  by  afford- 
ing the  necessary  basis  for  higher  technical  education. —  Contemporary 
Review. 


INDEX. 


Adams,  Charles  Francis,  jun.,  181,  206,  302. 

Adler,  Dr.  Felix,  14,  178,  206,  207,  215. 

Allan  Glen's  Institution,  176,  328. 

Apprenticeship,  258,  267,  314-316. 

Apprenticeship  schools,  233,  234,  270,  271,  296. 

Articles  not  sold,  194,  195,  293,  294,  321-323. 

Assistant  class  instructors  not  desirable,  126,  127. 

Attendance  affected  by  manual  training,  168,  173,  177,  203,  204. 

Baltimore  Manual  Training  School,  11. 

Boston  Industrial  School  Association,  263,  282,  283. 

Boyer,  E.  R.,  views  of,  173,  174. 

Boynton,  John,  endows  Worcester  Free  Institute,  1. 

Brazing  and  soldering,  108. 

Brown,  William,  8. 

Cambridge  workshop  of  Prof.  Stuart,  328,  329. 

Caste,  effect  of  manual  training  upon,  317,  318. 

Chicago  Manual  Training  School,  12,  335. 

Chicago  School  Board  adopts  manual  training,  14. 

Chucking,  58. 

Cincinnati  Technical  (Manual  Training)  School,  14. 

Citizenship,  duties  of,  131. 

Civics,  outline  of,  130,  131. 

Cleveland  Manual  Training  School,  14,  174. 

Compton,  Supt.  H.  W.,  168. 

Conzelman,  Gottlieb,  4,  7,  9-11,  285. 

Cores  and  Core-boxes,  112,  113,  124,  125. 

Cost  of  forging  tools,  85. 

Cost  of  machine-shop  tools,  134. 

Cost  of  materials,  350. 

Cost  of  plant,  199,  237. 

Cost  of  Toledo  Manual  Training  School,  344. 

Cost  of  wood-working  tools,  27-29. 

Course  of  study  of  St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School,  194,  217,  292,  351. 

Course  of  study  for  girls,  352,  353. 

Cupples,  Samuel,  7,  8,  11,  201. 

361 


362  INDEX. 

Davidson,  Thomas,  320. 

Davis,  John  T.,  8. 

Della-Vos,  Victor,  2,  4. 

Denver  Manual  Training  School,  14,  335; 

Dickinson,  Secretary,  307-309,  318. 

Discipline  of  the  shop,  54,  344,  345. 

Dixon,  E.  M.,  views  of,  176,  328. 

Dowd,  Supt.,  224. 

Drawing,  for  first  year  of  manual  training  school,  18-24. 

Drawing,  for  second  year  of  manual  training  school,  77-84. 

Drawing,  for  third  year  of  manual  training  school,  132. 

Drawing,  for  the  shop,  38. 

Drawing,  free-hand  projections,  23. 

Drawing,  instruments  for,  22. 

Drawing,  isometric  projections,  18,  19. 

Drawing,  orthographic  projections,  principles  of,  18,  19. 

Drawing,  sections,  21,  22. 

Drawing,  use  of  rulers  in,  24. 

Drawing,  value  of,  187,  188,  257,  311,  312. 

Economic  value  of  manual  training,  196,  197,  230,  236,  296,  308. 

Education,  defective,  183,  184,  215,  244,  245,  263,  310. 

Education,  luxuries  in,  191,  355-357. 

Eliot,  Chancellor  William  G.,  7,  8,  192. 

Eliot,  H.  W.,  8. 

Emerson,  quotations  from,  181,  189. 

English  manual  training  schools,  327,  328. 

English,  study  of,  17,  75,  130,  304. 

European  schools,  248,  249,  269-271,  Chap.  XIV. 

Exercise  in  filing,  280,  281. 

Exercises  in  forging,  89-104. 

Exercises  in  iron  and  steel  fitting,  143-148. 

Exercises  in  joinery,  38-49. 

Exercises  in  wood-turning,  60-66. 

Exercises  in  wood-carving,  66-72. 

Expression,  the  arts  of,  185-187. 

Fan  for  exhaust,  84. 
Farrar,  Canon,  views  of,  219. 
Fire,  management  of,  104-107. 
Fiske,  Prof.  John,  225. 
Foley,  Thomas,  testimony  of,  198. 
Forge,  management  of  fire,  104-107. 
Forging,  cost  of  tools  for,  85. 
Forging,  exercises  in,  89-104. 
Forging-shop,  cut  of,  86. 
Forging-shop,  outfit  of,  84,  85. 
Forging,  the  elements  of,  85-88. 
Franke,  Prof.  Ktmo,  views  of,  170,  171. 


INDEX.  363 


French  technical  schools,  192,  193,  329,  330. 

Fruits  of  manual  training,  Chap.  VIII.,  213,  238,  308. 

Garlin,  Anna  C.,  265. 

German  schools,  331. 

Girls,  education  of,  7,  216,  341,  344,  352,  353. 

Graduates,  occupations  of,  154. 

Graduates,  records  of,  152-155. 

Graduates,  testimony  of,  156-165. 

Graduates,  wages  of,  156. 

Grammercy  Park  School,  14. 

Greek,  futility  of  study  of,  298,  299. 

Gregory,  Prest.  J.  M.,  2. 

Hale,  Dr.  E.  E.,  305-307. 

Ham,  Charles  H.,  172,  188. 

Harris,  Dr.  William  T.,  208,  230,  246. 

Harrison,  Edwin,  7,  9,  201. 

Heat,  production  of,  by  iron-cutting,  142. 

Heat,  production  of,  by  wood-turning,  57. 

Hinsdale,  Supt,,  204. 

Holden,  S.  E.,  views  of,  171,  172. 

Home  training,  234,  235. 

House,  N".  W.,  exercises  in  wood-carving  by,  68. 

Hudson,  Dr.  H.  N.,  305. 

Huse,  William  L.,  8. 

Industrial  School  Association  of  Boston,  263,  282,  283. 

Industrial  schools,  233. 

Intellectual  influence  of  manual  training,  204-206,  223,  \ 

Jacobson,  Col.  Augustus,  172,  200,  222. 
James,  Supt.  Henry  M.,  views  of,  173. 
Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  views  of,  297. 
Jones,  Charles  E.,  lesson  by,  104-107. 

Komatau,  Bohemia,  school  at,  3,  193,  331,  332. 

Literary  training  compared  with  scientific,  218,  250-253. 
London  School  Board  introduces  manual  training,  180. 
Lunch,  need  of,  350. 

MacAlister,  Supt.,  235. 

Machine-shop,  character  of,  136. 

Machine-shop,  cost  of  outfit,  134. 

Machine-shop,  cut  of,  135. 

Machine-shop,  exercises,  143-149. 

Machine-shop,  outfit  of,  134. 

Machine-shop,  tools,  characteristics  of,  136-142. 


364  INDEX. 

Mackintosh,  Miss  May,  178. 

Macomber,  A.  E.,  340. 

Magnus,  Sir  Philip,  218,  219,  327,  358-360. 

Manchester  Manual  Training  School,  328. 

Manual  Labor  School,  Miller,  324. 

Manual  labor  schools,  232. 

Manual  occupations  affected  by  manual  training,  211,  212. 

Manual  training,  cost  of,  237. 

Manual  training,  economic  value  of,  196,  197,  230,  236,  296,  308. 

Manual  training,  fruits  of,' Chap.  VIII. ,  213,  238. 

Manual  training  in  ancient  times,  261. 

Manual  training  in  high  schools,  355-357. 

Manual  training,  moral  influence  of,  184,  206,  207,  231. 

Manual  training,  object  of,  194,  229,  358-360. 

Manual  Training  School  of  St.  Louis :  — 

cost  of,  199. 

established,  5,  335. 

history  of,  9-11. 

managing  board  of,  8. 

ordinance  of,  5. 

origin  of  name,  7,  8. 

plans  of,  336-340. 

prospectus  of,  6,  Chap.  XII. 
Manual  training  school  not  a  special  school,  319. 
Marking  shop  exercises,  50-53,  281. 
Massachusetts  Eighth  Regiment,  276. 
Materials,  cost  of,  350. 

Mather,  William,  royal  commissioner,  178,  179,  320. 
Merriam,  George  S.,  181,  182. 
Miller  Manual  Labor  School,  324. 
Miller,  Ralph  H.,  153,  159,  177. 
Milton,  views  of,  on  education,  240,  241. 
Minneapolis  adopts  manual  training,  15. 
Molding,  108-119. 
Molding,  outfit  of,  111,  112. 
Money  values,  study  of,  324-326. 
Moral  influence  of  manual  training,  184,  206,  207,  231. 

Occupation,  choice  of,  209,  302. 

Oliver,  H.  K.,  244. 

Omaha  High  School  introduces  manual  training,  14,  173. 

Ordway,  Prof.  J.  M.,  views  of,  169,  333. 

Page,  James  A.,  report  of,  174,  175. 

Pattern-making,  108,  119-125. 

Philadelphia  Manual  Training  School,  14,  173. 

Philadelphia  Social  Science  Association  address,  1885,  Chap.  IX. 

Phillips,  Wendell,  265. 

Physics,  teaching,  76,  77. 


INDEX.  365 

Plans  of  St.  Louis  school,  336-340. 

Plans  of  Toledo  school,  340-347. 

Playfair,  Sir  Lyon,  179,  302. 

Policy  of  shop,  194,  195,  293,  294,  321-323. 

Polytechnic  school,  origin,  aims,  and  methods  of,  Chap.  X. 

Power,  basis  of,  301. 

Professions,  number  of,  226,  241. 

Program  of  first  year  of  manual  training  school,  16. 

Program  of  second  year,  75. 

Program  of  third  year,  128. 

Program  of  Toledo  Manual  Training  School,  354. 

Projects,  65,  104,  148. 

Promotions,  74. 

Public  school,  function  of,  Chap.  XIII. 

Reports,  348. 

Ripper,  Prof.,  of  Sheffield,  156,  175,  176,  310,  327,  349. 

Robinson,  Prof.  S.  W.,  2,  323. 

Rooms  and  teachers,  17. 

Runkle,  Prest.  J.  D.,  4,  174,  191,  193,  196,  198,  207,  266,  273,  277,  278,  280. 

Russian  method  of  tool  instruction,  3,  268,  277,  283. 

Russian  schools,  332,  333. 

St.  Louis  Manual  Training  School.    (See  Manual  Training  School  of  St.  Louis.) 

Saratoga  address  in  1882,  Chap.  VII. 

Saratoga  address  in  1883,  Chap.  VIII. 

School  of  Mechanic  Arts,  Boston,  5,  191,  193,  198,  277. 

Science  culture,  219,  220. 

Scientific  compared  with  literary  training,  218,  250,  253. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  207. 

Scott,  Jesup  W.  and  Susan,  endow  Toledo  University,  340. 

Scott,  William  H.,  340. 

Scott,  Frank  J.,  340. 

Scott,  Maurice  A.,  340. 

Sellew,  Ralph,  9,  10,  11,  201. 

Sellew,  Timothy  G.,  11. 

Self-sustaining  schools,  195. 

Seaver,  Supt.  Edwin  A.,  223,  311. 

Shop  drawings,  38. 

Shop  exercises,  38-49,  60-66,  66-72,  89-104,  143-148. 

Shop,  policy  of,  194,  195,  293,  294,  321-323. 

Slang  to  be  avoided,  303. 

Slojd  schools  of  Sweden,  333. 

Soldering  and  brazing,  108. 

Stevens,  Edwin  A.,  endows  the  Institute,  3,  259. 

Stevens  Institute,  2. 

Stuart,  Prof.,  starts  a  shop  at  Cambridge,  328,  329. 

Style  in  English,  to  be  cultivated,  130,  304. 

Swedish  schools,  333. 

Swofford,  C.  C.,  77. 


366  INDEX. 

Teachers,  assistant,  126,  127. 

Teachers,  number  of,  17. 

Teachers,  qualifications  of,  348,  349. 

Teachers,  salaries  of,  200. 

Tempering,  83,  100,  104. 

Theory  of  tool  instruction,  275. 

Thompson,  Prest.  C.  O.,  2,  296,  332. 

Thompson,  Prof.  Sylvanus  P.,  187,  192,  193. 

Thurston,  Prof.  R.  H.,  177,  ,290,  295. 

Toledo  Manual  Training  School,  13,  68,  168,  169,  173,  177,  335,  340,  34L 

cost  of,  344. 

course  of  study  for  girls,  344,  352,  353. 

department  for  girls,  341. 

daily  program,  354. 

plans  of,  340-347. 

Trade  schools,  233,  268,  269,  272,  273. 
Tulane  High  School,  15,  169. 

Walberg,  Mr.,  280. 

Walker,  Gen.  Francis  A.,  221,  306,  307,  313,  355-357. 

Walker,  Stephen  A.,  190,  192. 

Washington  University  introduces  shop-work,  3,  4,  259,  285. 

White,  Mr.  Charles  F.,  60,  108-125. 

White,  Supt.  E.  E.,  views  of,  317,  318. 

Whitworth,  Sir  Joseph,  founds  scholarships,  260. 

Wickersham,  Supt.  J.  P.,  265. 

Winship,  Dr.  A.  E.,  views  of,  173. 

Winthrop,  Theodore,  276,  277. 

Wood-carving  exercises,  66-72. 

Wood-carving  tools,  67. 

Woods  to  be  used,  36,  58,  59. 

Wood-turning,  54-66. 

Wood-turning,  directions  for,  56. 

Wood-turning,  exercises  in,  60-65. 

Wood-working,  a  lesson  in,  33-35. 

Wood-working,  care  of  tools,  31. 

Wood-working,  cost  of  outfit,  28,  29. 

Wood-working,  method  of  instruction,  30-38. 

Wood-working  shop,  25,  29. 

Wood-working  shop,  cut  of,  26. 

Wood-working  tools,  lists  and  prices,  27-29. 

Worcester  Free  Institute,  1,  2,  246. 


Youmans,  Dr.  E.  L.,  185,  225. 


MANUAL  TRAINING. 


"  When  a  man  teaches  his  son  no  trade,  it  is  as  if  he  taught  him  highway 

robbery. ' ' 


Wood-Working  Tools;   How  to  Use  Them. 

A  handbook  for  teachers  and  pupils.  Edited  (for  the  Industrial  School 
Association}  by  CHANNING  WHITAKER,  Professor  of  Mechanical  Engineer- 
ing at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  5^  by  7^  inches. 
Cloth.  104  pages.  With  80  illustrations.  Price  by  mail,  55  cents.  Intro- 
duction price,  50  cents. 

A  COURSE  of  simple  lessons  in  the  use  of  the  universal  tools :  the 
hammer,  knife,  axe,  plane,  rule,  chalk-line,  square,  gauge,  chisel, 
saw,  and  augur.  The  lessons  are  so  amply  illustrated  that  any  bright 
boy  will  find  the  book  alone  a  great  help  in  his  endeavors  to  learn  the 
right  way  of  using  common  tools.  Nearly  half  of  the  illustrations  were 
taken  from  life,  and  are  efficient  substitutes  for  lengthy  and  important 
printed  instructions.  The  book  is  the  result  of  actual  experiments 
successfully  made  by  the  Industrial  School  Association  of  Boston. 
It  will  help  people,  who  are  interested  in  systematic  and  efficient 
industrial  education,  to  begin  it. 

*'  The  Industrial  School  Association  conducted  small  industrial 
schools  at  its  own  expense.  It  set  itself  to  prepare  a  manual  of 
instruction,  based  upon  the  actual  experience  of  its  teachers,  with  the 
aid  of  other  teachers,  in  like  schools  in  Gloucester  and  Cambridge,  and 
this  book  is  the  result.  Of  course,  its  size  is  no  indication  of  the 
labor  and  thought  and  money  it  has  cost.  As  far  as  it  goes,  it  aims  to 
teach,  and  it  does  teach,  how  to  use  wood-working  tools  with  singular 
thoroughness  and  intelligence.  The  Rev.  George  Leonard  Chancy, 
President  of  the  Association,  writes  a  brief  introduction,  in  which  he 
says :  *  A  single  workroom,  like  the  one  used  by  this  school  in  Church 
Street,  in  any  city,  for  the  six  months  from  December  to  May,  during 


152  MANUAL    TRAINING. 

which  time  it  usually  lies  idle,  with  very  little  expense  beyond  the 
original  plant  and  a  moderate  salary  to  the  teacher,  would  meet  all 
the  wants  of  three  or  four  of  the  largest  grammar  schools  for  boys. 
Three  such  supplementary  schools,  if  used  in  turn,  would  amply  satisfy 
all  the  rightful  claims  of  industrial  education  of  this  kind  upon  the 
school  system  of  such  a  city  as  Boston.  At  so  small  an  outlay  of 
attention  and  money  might  the  native  aptitude  of  the  American  youth 
for  manual  skill  be  turned  into  useful  channels.  In  so  simple  a  way 
might  the  needed  check  be  given  to  that  exclusive  tendency  towards 
classical  rather  than  industrial  pursuits  which  the  present  school  course 
undoubtedly  promotes.'  We  heartily  welcome  this  little  book  for 
what  it  is,  and  of  course  what  it  promises,  as  we  hope,  for  industrial 
education."  —  Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

"  Industrial  education  is  becoming  a  popular  theme,  and  for  the 
welfare  of  society  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  receive  more  and  more 
attention.  With  the  common -school  system  it  may  properly  be 
intimately  combined.  No  one  should  say  aught  against  purely 
literary  and  scientific  learning,  but  since  so  few  are  destined  to  a  sole 
use  of  these  acquisitions,  in  after-life  it  is  important  that  knowledge 
available  for  the  million  should  be  more  freely  bestowed  upon  the 
young  than  it  is.  Since  the  lapse  into  disuse  of  the  apprentice  system, 
skilled  workers  for  their  efficiency  have  pretty  much  been  left  to  their 
own  resources  in  acquiring  knowledge  of  a  chosen  occupation.  To 
remedy  this  defect  in  the  training  of  children,  industrial  schools,  and 
special  departments  in  ordinary  schools,  are  now  desired  to  meet  the 
necessary  want.  As  a  text-book  for  this  purpose,  Messrs.  D.  C. 
Heath  &  Co.,  Boston,  have  published  'Wood- Working  Tools  :  How  to 
Use  Them.'  It  is  an  illustrated  manual  of  fourteen  chapters,  and 
aims  to  promote  the  handicraft  required  in  all  trades.  To  any  youth 
with  a  native  aptitude  for  the  use  of  tools  and  a  taste  for  mechanical 
work,  it  has  all  the  requisites  of  an  elementary  volume,  besides  being 
as  entertaining  as  it  is  plain  and  useful.  The  several  chapters  treat 
very  fully  of  striking,  splitting,  cutting,  planing,  sharpening,  adjusting, 
marking,  sawing,  reducing  surfaces,  squaring  surfaces,  boring,  joining, 
finishing,  etc.  The  work  has  been  of  great  benefit  in  the  industrial 
schools  of  Boston  and  elsewhere.  Throughout  the  country  it  may  with 
profit  be  universally  adopted  in  every  school,  public  or  private,  where 
young  persons  are  taught."  —  Dubuque  Trade  Journal. 


MANUAL    TRAINING. 


153 


The  Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington  has  shown 
a  great  interest  in  this  book,  and  sent  it  to  several 
schools  of  science,  who  acknowledged  its  receipt  by  the 
following  letters  of  commendation  ;— 


C.  F.  Brackett,  Prof,  of  Physics,  Col- 
lege of  New  Jersey :  It  is  an  admirable 
little  book.  Every  boy  should  be  taught 
just  the  things  it  so  well  presents. 

Chas.  Babcock,  Prof,  of  Architec- 
ture in  Cornell  Univ. :  I  commend  it 
heartily. 

Robt.  W.  Doutheat,  Sec'yfor  School 
of  Mines,  Rolla,  Mo, :  I  feel  free  to  say 
that  I  have  never  before  seen  a  book 
which  so  completely  and  satisfactorily 
sets  forth  the  true  methods  of  using  the 
tools  needed  by  wood-workers. 

A.  Vander  Naillen,  Pres.  of  School 
of  Science,  San  Francisco,  Cal.  :  I  really 
think  it  not  only  very  useful,  but  the  idea 
full  of  possibilities.  If  followed  up  by 
other  books  on  similar  subjects,  and  as 
copiously  illustrated,  the  idea  will  be  a 
civilizing  one,  and  the  benefit  to  our  ris- 
ing generations  simply  incalculable. 

Richard  Mott,  Pres.  of  Toledo  (0.) 
Univ.  of  Arts  and  Trades :  This  is  a 
good  work.  An  intelligent  scholar  can 
acquire  from  it  a  fair  elementary  knowl- 
edge of  the  trade  without  apprenticeship. 

Chas.  H.  Benjamin,  Dept.  Mech. 
Engineering,  Me.  State  Coll.:  It  will 


doubtless  be  adopted  as  a  basis  for  a 
course  of  instruction  in  wood-work. 

The  Nation :  It  is  a  model  of  clear 
and  concise  directions. 

N.  Y.  Times :  It  wastes  no  words,  but 
by  terse  text  and  apt  illustration  describes 
the  operations  of  the  wood-worker.  To 
a  nation  of  whittlers  and  choppers  it 
should  be  a  boon. 

Builder     and     Wood-Worker, 

N.  Y. :  The  work  is  within  the  capacity 
of  any  one  trustworthy  enough  to  own  a 
sharp  jack-knife ;  indeed,  if  the  book  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  every  boy  in  the 
United  States,  both  boys  and  States 
would  be  benefited. 

The  Carpenter,  St.  Louis :  No  bet- 
ter present  could  be  given  a  boy,  and 
carpenters  would  do  well  to  see  that  it  is 
in  the  hands  of  their  sons. 

Youth's  Examiner,  Chicago  :  This 
is  one  of  the  neatest  and  most  useful 
volumes  it  has  been  our  privilege  to 
notice  for  some  time. 

C.  H.  Dietrich,  Supt.  of  Schools,  Hop- 
kinsville,  Ky. :  It  is  a  perfect  gem.  It  de- 
serves to  find  a  place  in  every  family  in 
America,  and  should  be  put  in  the  hands 
of  every  boy,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor. 


Manual  Training. 

By  Prof.  C.  M.  WOODWARD,  of  the  Manual  Training  School,  Washington 
University,  St.  Louis. 

T^HIS  book  is  exceedingly  practical,  its  main  object  being  to  show 
just  how  a  manual  training  school  should  be  organized  and  con- 
ducted. It  contains  courses  of  study,  programmes  of  daily  exercises, 
and  working  drawings  and  descriptions  of  class  exercises  in  wood  and 
metal.  The  course  of  drawing,  which  has  proved  eminently  successful 
in  the  St.  Louis  school,  is  quite  fully  given.  [Ready  in  October. 


EdtiCUtlOn  :     A  Pedagogic  and  Social  Necessity. 


Together  with  a  Critique  upon  Objections  Advanced.  By  ROBERT  SEIDEL, 
Mollis,  Switzerland.  Translated  by  MARGARET  K.  SMITH,  State  Normal 
School,  Oswego,  New  York. 

A  good  idea  of  the  value  of  this  book  may  be  gained  from  the 
following 

TABLE    OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I.  THE  INNER  RELATION  BETWEEN  INDUSTRIAL  INSTRUCTION 
AND  THE  SOCIAL  QUESTION. 

CHAPTER  II.  ERRORS.  CONTRADICTIONS,  AND  INCONSISTENCIES  OF  THE 
OPPONENTS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  INSTRUCTION. 

CHAPTER  III.  THE  ECONOMIC  OBJECTIONS  TO  INDUSTRIAL  INSTRUCTION. 
—  i.  Competition.  —  n.  Speculation.  —  HI.  Diminution  of  the  Number  of 
Purchasers.  —  iv.  Misconception  of  the  Utility  of  Division  of  Labor. 

CHAPTER  IV.  THE  PLAUSIBLE  AND  LEGAL  OBJECTIONS  TO  INDUSTRIAL 
INSTRUCTION.  —  i.  The  Child's  Inclination  for  Activity  is  sufficiently  culti- 
vated in  the  Family.  —  11.  The  Father  should  instruct  the  Son  in  his  Handi- 
craft. —  HI.  Compulsory  Industrial  Instruction  would  interfere  with  the 
Parents'  Rights.  —  iv.  The  Rural  Population  require  no  Industrial  Edu- 
cation. 

CHAPTER  V.  THE  OBJECTIONS  OF  EDUCATORS  AND  SCHOOLMEN  TO 
INDUSTRIAL  INSTRUCTION.  —  i.  The  Aim  of  the  School  and  of  Industrial 
Instruction.  —  ii.  Can  Gymnastics  secure  harmonious  Development?  —  HI. 
The  School  already  pursues  Hand  Labor.  —  iv.  Disciplinary  and  Educa- 
tional Value  of  Drawing,  Industrial,  and  Science  Instruction.  —  v.  Objec- 
tive Methods  of  Instruction  in  Forest  and  Field.  —  vi.  Objective  and 
Hand-Labor  Instruction.  —  vii.  Industrial  Instruction  can  not  remedy  the 
Disadvantages  of  the  Present  School  System.  —  vm.  Increase  of  Hours  for 
Instruction.  —  ix.  Hand  Labor  should  be  Vacation  Employment,  and  in 
Childhood  merely  Play.  —  X.  School  Hand  Labor  and  Choice  of  a  Pro- 
fession.— xi.  The  Decline  of  the  Teacher's  Position.  —  xn.  The  Union  of 
Study  and  Labor  in  the  School.  —  xm.  Method  of  Industrial  Instruction. 

CHAPTER  VI.  WHAT  DO  THE  CLASSIC  EDUCATORS  SAY  OF  INDUSTRIAL 
INSTRUCTION? 

CHAPTER  VII.  EDUCATIONAL  AND  SOCIAL  NECESSITY  FOR  INDUSTRIAL 
INSTRUCTION.  —  SUPPLEMENTARY  RESUME.  —  Conclusion. 


D.  C.  HEATH  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

3  TREMONT  PLACE,  BOSTON. 


SCIENCE. 


Organic  Chemistry: 

An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Compounds  of  Carbon.  By  IRA  REMSEN,  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry,  Johns  Hopkins  University,  Baltimore,  x  +  364  pages.  Cloth.  Price  by 
mail,  $1.30;  Introduction  price,  $1.20. 

The  Elements  of  Inorganic  Chemistry. 

Descriptive  and  Qualitative.  By  JAMES  H.  SHEPARD,  Instructor  in  Chemistry  in  the 
Ypsilanti  High  School,  Michigan,  xxii  +  377  pages.  Cloth.  Price  by  mail,  $1.25;  Introduc- 
tion price,  $1.12. 

The  Elements  of  Chemical  Arithmetic : 

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